What happened, Bo?

I was never a believer.

Make that #BOliever. I just cannot understand why Ateneo decided to downgrade the coach as opposed to upgrading, which is what you do during the off season. So the die-hard Ateneans (those who hailed from the mini-dark ages of ’02-’07 and from years before the first championship in a decade or so) all went “WELP!” when the selection of Bo Perasol to replace Norman Black was made. Black piloted the Blue Eagles to an unprecedented five-peat and never missed the Final Four bus all his years.

Meanwhile Bo, well, there’s Gary David going off on Purefoods and carrying the man to the Finals. That’s it. That’s the coaching highlight for Perasol. And this guy was said to be an offensive genius.

In his first game as head coach of the Hail Mary Squad, when asked about adjustments, I never forgot what he said. It was something along the lines of “kulang sa puso, energy, etc.” I stood there flabbergasted. Rooted in dismay.

Well, let me tell you, it is disconcerting for me, who has been pampered with Norman Black’s half-time adjustments. His teams let the others stay close before the break. Then BAM! They’re dead. A true genius.

Perasol? Excuse me. I am not crucifying Perasol for not bringing the championship back to Katipunan, but my perceived ineptitude of the man when it comes to in-game, on-the-fly adjustments, there’s just...nothing.

And do tell me if you know a coach who at the start of the season wanted his team to be an offensive one before changing his mind during the crucial, morale-building stages to the Final Four that they be a defensive team? Norman Black knew from the start of Season 73 that he has to transform the Eagles to a lean and mean running machine. Bo had the same materials with this year’s group. Difference? Coaching acumen.

See how bad this crew ran the fast break? Jesus Christ, Kirk Long and Eric Salamat ran people to the ground on cherry picking-leak outs that were made an art form. Perasol’s iteration? Sorry guys, you botched three, THREE, free runs at the basket. It’s like, in just three months when Black stepped down, the boys forgot what it was to play Ateneo basketball.

Here we are, stuck with a coach who survived by going Iso-gary and Iso-Kiefer and effortlessly tired them out and gave opponents an easy way to exploit the Blue and White. NU figured it all out. Coach E got our number. And it was not a pretty sight. He knew that Bo is susceptible to resort to his Iso sets for his top guns, making his attack predictable from the get-go.

And what do you make of Arvin Tolentino eh?

The rookie was recruited to sit in the corners and waste away? It’s like he scalped a very good patron ticket just to watch games. It’s reminiscent of Rich Alvarez’s first game as a pro for Shell in the PBA. If Perasol is really an offensive genius, he would’ve designed plays to maximize Tolentino’s combination of size, speed and height at the four spot. Granted, AT only likes to hoist threes and rarely goes for a drive. But when he does, aren’t you just left salivating?

Come on, a simple Pick N Pop is not going to work. When Tolentino is right at the corners, couldn’t you throw him a cross screen to the strong side as the ball swings? The only way to get an engaged Arvin Tolentino is when you give him touches. He easily loses interest if he’s not utilized, which was obvious in the games he turned to a Migs De Asis (remember him?).

And then there’s the Iso-Newsome. Heck, if Iso option A ain’t working, go for broke with Iso option B. The only good thing here is that New likes to break defences down whereas the MVP tended to settle for jump shots. You know what that means: fouls leading to free-throws leading to rotation complications on the other side.

You may contend that the defense of NU is geared to stop Kiefer. So was Detroit’s defense on Michael Jordan. See, Kief had it handed to him when he forgot that he posterized Karim Abdul two years ago and Arnold Van Opstal while he was still in HS. He forgot to go in strong and hard. When jump shots aren’t falling, you try your best to get to the line no matter if the actual calls are not being made and that hastened the downfall, somewhat, of Ateneo against the hungry Bulldogs. But what did Bo do despite all that? Keep shooting! Shoot...

Whereas his predecessor would’ve formulated a plan to extricate Ravena out of that sinkhole where he would get drives to the hoop. Offensive genius.

I still hope there’s a #BOnFIRE somewhere down the line.

I want Norman Black back.

I want to see beautiful Ateneo fast breaks again.

I want my second half adjustments to be the same again.

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Pio Garcia is a college hoops blogger for Unblogged Sports. His views do not reflect those of Philstar.com