MANILA, Philippines - Before the UAAP hostilities began, NU coach Eric Altamirano and FEU coach Nash Racela admitted yesterday they never expected to make it to the men’s senior basketball Finals this season. But both the Bulldogs and Tamaraws overachieved as the campaign rolled out with their reward, a chance to go all the way to the throne.
FEU and NU open their best-of-three showdown for the UAAP crown at the Mall of Asia Arena today. The Tamaraws are slightly favored over the Bulldogs on the strength of their two wins over NU in the eliminations, 71-62 and 74-70 in overtime. In both games, FEU had a higher field goal percentage and less turnovers than NU. But their elimination records were only a win apart with FEU at 10-4 and NU, 9-5.
“Making it to the Finals was part of our goal, of course,” said Racela. “But did we expect to go to the Finals at the start of the season? Not really. At the beginning, we were in the middle of the pack. Then, we began to grow as a team, played better together and slowly reached our peak.”
Altamirano said losing Bobby Ray Parks and Emmanuel Mbe in the offseason left a huge vacuum in the Bulldogs roster. “After losing Ray and Sean, we did a lot of teaching,” he said. “We changed our system to fit the guys on the team. Our veterans didn’t get too many minutes before so we had to get them used to playing more. It was a difficult transition. So we didn’t really expect to go to the Finals.”
Altamirano, 48, has won two PBA titles as head coach and is shooting for his first major collegiate title. He used to call the shots for UP and is now on his fourth season at NU. “I can’t say enough about the support of management,” he said. “Since Day One, Mr. (Hans) Sy has given us his full support, making available all the resources to take care of our needs. We’ve won titles in the summer leagues like the Fr. Martin Cup and Filoil Flying V but NU hasn’t won a UAAP title since 1954 so we’re hoping and praying to do it this year. We’re one step away from making it happen.”
Racela said management support has also been instrumental in FEU’s success. “It’s not just the support from our immediate bosses Mr. (Anton) Montinola and Mr. (Mark) Molina but also from the entire school,” he said. “In our do-or-die game against La Salle last Wednesday, we filled up half the coliseum as classes were suspended to give everyone a chance to watch us. That gave us a huge lift.”
Racela singled out crowd support as one of three factors to determine the outcome of the series. “First factor is execution of the gameplan,” he said. “Second factor is composure, how we handle ourselves in critical moments. We’ve got four players with Finals experience but that was when they were rookies so we’re hoping they haven’t forgotten what it feels like to play under championship pressure. The third factor is the crowd. We saw how big a role the crowd played in our do-or-die game.”
Altamirano had his own version of the three factors. “It will boil down to first, our ability to stop FEU’s transition, their running game,” he said. “Second, our ability to stop their dribble-drive offense which gives them a lot of options to score and third, our ability to get the rebounds.” Altamirano said although FEU lost Terrence Romeo and R. R. Garcia in the offseason, the Tamaraws remain solid as a unit. “They’ve got a lot of offensive weapons and they’re very versatile,” he continued. “Mac (Belo) and Mike (Tolomia) will give us problems. Roger (Pogoy) is also tough and we saw how he posted up (Almond) Vosotros in the La Salle series. We’re also concerned about the quarterbacking and facilitating of (Archie) Inigo and how he’s able to involve the other guys like (Carl) Cruz. They play as a team.”
Racela said he has no specific matchups in mind but will focus on containing Alfred Aroga, Gelo Alolino and Troy Rosario. “I think it will be a defensive series,” he said. “When you go to the playoffs, the emphasis is on defense. NU is a good defensive team. But in crucial games, we’ve been able to step up defensively.”
An advantage that Racela pointed out is the presence of PBA superstars Johnny Abarrientos and Jojo Lastimosa in the FEU coaching staff. “They’re making big contributions especially in the playoffs,” he said. “They’ve experienced playing in the PBA Finals. That also goes for assistant coach Gilbert Lao. We’re fortunate to be able to share their wisdom with our players.”
Racela is on his second year at FEU and like Altamirano, is aiming for his first UAAP crown. He won a title with the Batangas Blades, starring Romel Adducul and Alex Compton, in the MBA in 2001 and used to coach San Beda in the NCAA. Racela has also worked with coach Chot Reyes in the PBA since 2003 and served in his staff on the national squad.
“It’s hard to say if this series will end in two or three games,” said Altamirano. “What is important is winning Game One because it gives you a big edge. We’re confident in the way we play defense. We’re not gifted with a lot of offensive weapons but we play together, we share the ball, we find the open man, we get the ball to who’s hot and who’s open. It will come down to stops and we’re ready to play defense.” The stats in the preliminaries show that the Bulldogs rank No. 1 in the UAAP in least points given up at 57.4 and lowest field goal percentage allowed at 34.1 percent. NU hopes to translate those numbers into a winning formula in the Finals. FEU, however, is confident that as the Bulldogs haven’t beaten the Tamaraws in two games this season, the trend will extend to the Finals.