Black wary of seasoned Warriors in title series

MANILA, Philippines - Despite their edge in experience, Ateneo coach Norman Black said the Eagles’ upcoming duel with the UE Warriors for the UAAP men’s basketball crown will be too close to call.

“It’s hard to say. We have the championship experience but they have players who played in the PBL,” said Black, who steered the Eagles to a sweep of their archrival La Salle Archers in last year’s finals.

Warriors Paul Lee, Elmer Espiritu and Pari Llagas drew valuable experience while playing for UE coach Lawrence Chongson’s Cobra Energy Drink team in the PBL.

“They’ve a veteran crew so we’re expecting a tough Game One,” he said.

The opener of the best-of-three series is set tomorrow with Ateneo out to reassert its mastery over UE, which it swept in the double round elims.

But the Warriors are on an eight-game roll, including an upset of the second seeded FEU Tams in the Final Four.

Black, whose Eagles outclassed the UST Tigers, 81-64, in the Final Four, was particularly impressed with Chongson’s starting five that includes rookie Val Acuña and Rudy Lingganay.

“They’re a very talented team, they can match up with any of the top five teams in the league,” Black said.

But with last year’s MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini and veteran playmaker Eric Salamat in the fold and a dependable crew of Nonoy Baclao, Ryan Buenafe, Kirk Long and Jai Reyes, Ateneo remains the prohibitive favorite in the finals, which features two teams that last met for the crown 22 years ago.

“The last time UE played Ateneo in the championship I was still playing in the PBA,” said Black, who hopes to duplicate the Eagles’ first back-to-back title romp in 1987-88.

“We’re definitely the underdogs,” said Chongson. “They have Norman Black who is a grand slam PBA coach and a UAAP champion. They also have the championship experience, a strong alumni support and basketball program,” he said.

It will also be a question of execution and defense.

“I guess one capability of UE players is that most of them are good on one-on-one offensive plays,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.

“Pari Llagas on the post, Paul Lee on the perimeter. The other players, they all know their roles. Elmer Espiritu can play inside and outside and Val Acuña is a very tall three-point shooter.”

“I guess we have to put focus on our individual defense, that’s where we’re really working out right now,” Arespacochaga said.

Both teams also agree the bench will be crucial in the series.

“Compared to last year, we relied more on our bench this year and the bench really delivered the whole season and we will rely on them again in this series,” said Arespacochaga.

“Definitely we need for everybody to step up every game. If you’d noticed, we have different starters every game simply because we want to be unpredictable. Yes the bench would play a crucial role,” said Chongson.

UE is in the finals for the fifth time since it last won a UAAP championship 24 years ago and will be trying to match FEU’s league-best 19 titles.

Ateneo, for its part, is gunning for its fifth crown.