A new schoolyear will be opening soon & a new UAAP season is upon us again. They hype on the rookies is sky high with the media claiming that ADMU got all the prized recruits. But to me, they still are exactly that....rookies. Unless you're Shaq, Lebron or MJ, we cannot expect them to be our saviors. However, since the massive wheels of college recruitment were spinning their way, Nico Salva, Buenafe, Justin Cua, Burke & even Gonzaga should be pressured to prove themselves quickly.

Cris Tiu remains to be the leader of this team but hopefully he will now have more weapons around him. Of immediate concern is the pointguard position. Despite the presence of Jai, Kirk & even Salamat we do not have a natural point guard & that will eventually show specially as the season progresses. I'm looking at Baclao to have a banner year - if the refs allow him to play. DLSU remains the team to beat but I worry about FEU. Baracael & Kawaling should be tough to beat & now more confident than ever after successful rookie seasons. As for UE, I'll sit back & watch them implode again

I do believe ADMU was right to stick it out with Norman Black as he will soon get the chance to prove himself with players he himself recruited - continuity of his system as everyone says. I hear the team should be even stronger for the '09-'10 season as several fil-ams are currently taking residency.

I really want to say that we'll win it all this season but my bet will be on next season after the rookies get their feet wet. But who knows, since the sold out lower box & patron season tickets cost Php 50,000 this year, maybe the alumni know something I don't.

Japeth, where art thou in Western Kentucky? Come back please......

Isn't Kirk Long a natural PG?

Kirk Long is far from a natural pointguard. He's a 2-guard/wingman.

But doesn't he really play PG back in his Faith Academy days or am I just bewildered by his great ball handling skills?

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/05212008/sports09.html


Ask Coach E
Eric Altamirano
Business Mirror, Sports
May 21, 2008

Way too pampered?

The pressure of winning has taken its toll on school athletes. Many schools today are fighting over talent and are usually moving heaven and earth to get the players to assure them of sporting success.

With the proliferation of good basketball instruction nowadays, schools are assured of fundamentally sound players who only need a little seasoning.

Yet, there are, of course, players who would capture the schools’ imagination from time to time. And what to do? Your guess is as good as mine.

But this writer is practically against too much pampering of players who do well for the institution. As said in a recent article, it all boils down to a school’s priorities, whether education or athletics would come first.

I think most players, particularly if they’re a bit intellectually gifted, are shooting below their mark when they choose “safe” courses. Safe meaning they could easily breeze through schoolwork with all their focus and extra time in sports and social activities after it.

What’s worse is if the institution itself caters to such.

They might look the other way, or perhaps, even encourage cagers to take only a few subjects, minor ones to just comply with the league requirement on schooling.

Much worse, players may be given a mere slap on the wrist for missing classes for not getting the required grades needed to stay on the team and for not making time for studying or being caught in activities that would compromise the institution’s reputation.

Most basketball experts call it pampering. Of course, some may say that this little leeway is a reward in exchange for the physical rigors of playing for the school.

But we are again missing the point here, that the school’s main objective is academics weighed with athletics, if the latter is also a priority.

It would be hard for some schools to think about sticking to a regimen that would keep out talented but learning-deficient players from attending school.

The idea, of course, is to push these players to also study, giving them adequate tutoring or extra help in research, but no way is it making things easier for them.

In case they won’t adhere to these, then show them the door. Another school may take them in later on and win, but their post-athletic life would be a big question mark.

Sorry but I will have to disagree with you again - Krik does have dribbling skills but his style of play is not for PG & I wouldn't categorize his skill as great but more than adequate. I'm not sure which position he played at Faith but it has become quite obvious that he can't be a pointguard, rather he is a 2 guard & he must remove his hesitation when he shoots his jumper.

The natural pointguards are the Tenorios, Escalonas, Tangs of this world who concentrate on playmaking & controlling tempo but with the ability to score when needed.

I love Chris Tiu & Kirk Long!

A great pre-season for the eagles. The large number of competitive games this summer will definitely bear fruit for the eagles in the UAAP given the number of rookies that need to be fit into the system. Winning the Nike league should also boost the confidence of the team.

I expect the UAAP to be very tough this year.

La Salle is still the team to beat. UE should still dominate the eliminations. UST will still be a tough out. While Adamson appears to be the darkhorse with the return of Coach Austria. FEU will be in the mix as well. So, Ateneo will be battling with 5 other teams to break through the Final 4. Winning 9 games should give Ateneo a slot in the Final 4, 10 or 11 will give us the all-important twice to beat advantage. Doing the math, if we take care of business for the four games against UP and NU and win once against all the ranked 5 teams, a Final 4 is reachable.

Will this be the year? If Tiu and Rabeh turn in Mythical selection seasons, we will barge into the Final 4. If Baclao, Jai and Salamat play well the Entire season, we should be in the top 2. If all these vets give great performances in the play-offs, we should battle for a championship. For blue-chip rookie Buenafe, I expect him to peak in the 2nd round and into the play-offs. If injuries strike the team, rookies Salva and Chua will have to deliver on their promise much earlier.

So, there are my predictions (or hopes) for this coming season. This may be the deepest bench for Ateneo since 2002. I count a 10 man rotation good enough against any of the teams. Kudos to the coaching staff for good recruitment class this year.

See you at the games!

we should not pressure our rookies to perform. let them bloom a little bit at a time. putting undue pressure on young kids is not that good. but i believe salva and buenafe are ready to contribute good numbers.

i think kirk long should think before he makes a leap to pass. he should AVOID LONG PASSES in crossing the back court. short crisp passes lang pare. less dribbling when full court press is applied

how rabeh plays will make or break our team. maybe it's just me. how he asserts his presence. puts his mind into the game. playing smart and not out of control. he has to develop some sort of hakeem olajuwon post moves to help contribute to the success of the team. improve lang nya footwork and peripheral vision to pass to deadly shooters.

our lack of post presence will be remedied a bit w/ the entry of jobe. he has great post potential but i dont know why he hasnt learned to master alvin patrimonio like moves under the paint. he really has it sana. i think buenafe /kirk long can post up smaller guards. why my emphasis on post plays,? because we have the best shooters in the league. in will definitely free up christiu, jai reyes, kirk long, . and the slashers like buenafe and salamat. this could be a potentialy deadly ateneo team if they peak at the right time.

our defense still needs some improvement. we lost a lot in this area after losing laterre. we had excellent defense last yr but we had a sputtering offense. of course norman black solved this w/ the entry of buenafe.this guy will be so deadly next yr, we might be able to get the crown next season. i can see black building the future around buenafe.

overall, the team needs a lot of work. specially on the big men like rabeh and jobe. black should design pick and roll moves for baclao. sayang naman yung pagod nya sa defense. he needs to learn lang to use his length and side stepping to attack the basket. i think defense will be the key to this team. i dont think offense will be a big problem for us like last yr's team.

we wish our team all the luck it needs peppered w/ lots of hard work.

things are looking good....win or lose this team is definitely deeeep. it is the deepest blue eagle team i can remember. the team members can contribute down to the last man. w/ this in mind, i would say that this team is a definite title contender this yr. it may not be as strong next yr, but it is good enough for this yr.

vince burke is a revelation. still needs more boxing out lessons and toughness down low. but his stroke is sweet. this guy is good. salva is very good. bacon is doing well. i know gonzaga can give quality minutes like joshua webb puts in for lasalle.

buenafe good as advertised.

i like what im seeing from some post moves from rabe and jobe. they should do this more often when the opportunity presents itself. man, look at jobe's muscles. primed and ready to go for this season. no more baby fats. rabeh's post moves are good. i dont know who's been working on this kid . but sana dumating yun 2 yrs ago champion na sana tayo. i really like his calmness and seeming maturity in the game. sana tuloy tuloy na ito pare.

defense is a bit better. can improve pa.

certainly a better ateneo team the past yrs . coach black has more tools. more depth. more diversity.

lock and loaded for season 71. go get em boys...one step at a time

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been away for a long time. i totally AGREE with antonc about his concern on the point guard position. for this team & even for last year, admu ONLY HAS ONE TRUE, NATURAL, & LEGITIMATE point guard in the person of yuri escueta. in fact, he would be the last one admu would have. unfortunately, he is not given much playing time compare to jai reyes, kirk long, eric salamat, & chris tiu - who are all natural shooting guard but are tasked to play the point.

i leave it to the coaches (mas bright sila sa akin) bakit ganon yung style nila (i could be very mistaken here) - is to convert a shooting guard to be a point guard.

1 biggest factor in a point guard is decision making when play starts & who don't have your coaches telling you what to do while the game is going on. and you have to do it in a split seconds.

my take is, its very hard to look for a special kid like tenorio. mike cortez is more of an off guard. he was very successful in lasalle. personally, ayaw ko ng mga maliliit na point guard. it creates mismatches. unless ganoon ka galing kay tenorio, ok lang.

lasalle, has revilla. shades of LA. but these things come rarely. kung meron sana tayo ok. kaya lang, yuri lang talaga nandyan. tingnan mo yung rotation ni norman black. at point guard position , WE can create mismatches for a change. other coaches fell in love w/ small point guards too much. i used to complain why they cant get bigger point guards. kahit 3rd option. well, eto na ngayon. jai is the only one left who is small.

remember last yr when cholo villanueva played point? mismatch talaga. ngayon, si revilla na pinoposte ng mga point guards natin.

the coaching staff is making do w/ what we have. its not like we can just manufacture an LA part 2 right away. sooner or later, a bright young kid w/ unselfish tendencies will come along...but not this yr. yuri will be given time as the season progresses...trust me. siya yung magiging endgame general.

dunno if that answers your question ? or more confusing? hehe.


off topic, btw, ang yabang ni webb. umaapaw ang yabang. paano kaya pinalaki itong batang ito. may araw rin ito ma suspend . trust me.

i forgot to add, that this team does not have the scoring prowess of our previous champion team, thus another scorer at the point cant hurt that much. our current team is better offensively last yr, but its not quite as good as the team of fonacier, villanueva, alvarez...etc...

even w/ salamat at point last yr, kulang pa rin yung offense natin due to zion laterre's, baclao's minimal contribution on the offensive end. si salamat lang, chris tiu at arao gumagawa . paano tayo if nag lagay ng non scoring point guard . parang desert yung scoring natin last yr. yung philosophy parang, threats are created among 5 players. and not 4. mentality kasi ng true point guard is to pass first. like japs cuan. in the end, whether true point guard, or not, timpla ng team pa rin mas impt. titindi yung team natin as the season progresses. malaki naka salalay sa big men natin .whether we go all the way or not will depend on them. hindi sa small guys. the small guys are overachieving already.