Kirk deserves PBA break

Under PBA rules, Ateneo guard Kirk Long isn’t eligible for the pro draft because he has no Filipino bloodline. By the time Long ends his varsity career at the end of the next UAAP season, he will have lived 20 years in the country. Surely, the long years of residence merit some consideration in determining his PBA eligibility particularly as Long, whose girlfriend is Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia’s daughter Tata, plans to settle here for good.

Ateneo coach Norman Black said there’s no doubt that Long has the ability to play in the PBA.

“Defense is Kirk’s strength,” said Black who played 10 years in the PBA as an import. “Did you notice him chasing down (Simon) Atkins and (Sam) Marata last Sunday, going through three or four screens? And he shot 22 points. Kirk plays point and off-guard for us. He alternates with Eric (Salamat) in playing point guard. We also play them together because we don’t rely on just one point guard particularly when the other team is pressing. Eric, Kirk and Ryan (Buenafe) have the license to run our offense.”

Black said he’d like to see Long, 21, graduate into the PBA. “He deserves the break,” said Black. “I think the PBA should consider allowing foreign players who’ve played high school and college in the country to join the draft. That would mean an eight or nine-year residence, disqualifying those who come in only to play in the seniors. Kirk’s father Jeff is a pastor with Faith Academy and he thinks it would be a dream come true for his son to play in the PBA.”

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As for the Eagles, Black said the key is to stay focused with four games left in their double-round elimination schedule.

“We’re in solo second right now but we still have to play FEU, Adamson, UE and UST – none of which we can take lightly,” said Black who was a standout at St. Joseph’s University, a Jesuit school in Philadelphia. “We want to make sure we’ll get the twice to beat advantage in the Final Four but of course, that’s no guarantee we’ll be in the finals. We’re only a game out of first place and we’ve got a lot of things to improve on. Statistically, we’re doing what we’ve wanted to do. We’re No. 1 in defense, No. 1 in lowest field goal percentage against, No. 2 in fastbreak points and No. 2 in field goal percentage behind FEU. I think we’re on track and accomplishing what we set out to do.”

But to get to the next level, Black said the Eagles must be more consistent in scoring from long range and work harder off the boards.

“After four games, we were dead last in three-point shooting,” said Black. “Now, we’re up to No. 4. We need to be a better offensive rebounding team. We usually put two guys crashing the offensive boards and three guys sprinting back to prevent transition baskets. Against La Salle last Sunday, we were determined to do three things – defend the perimeter, attack the press and rebound the ball. Marata killed us from outside in our first game which we lost despite leading by nine with four minutes to go. We wanted to score off their press and not give up possessions. I think we did a good job on those three things.”

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Black said losing to the Archers wasn’t an option in the second round. “We lost to La Salle in the first round and if we lost again, we’d never hear the end of it,” he said. “We knew we had to win. But don’t count out the Archers even if we won by a big margin (74-57). They’re a well-conditioned team and extremely well-coached. We shot the ball well and executed on both ends. It was just one of those nights. We entered the game No. 1 in defense and they were No. 2. Something had to give. Luckily, our defense held up against their offense. There are no secrets when we play each other. We just stayed focus on putting them away without blowing a big lead like we did in our first game. We kept stepping on the gas pedal. We did a good job of defending their perimeter shooters and scoring off their press.”

Black said La Salle’s loss isn’t an indication of a meltdown. “La Salle might have been overlooked as a contender at the start but not anymore,” he said. “It’s a competitive team. They’ll be back.”

Black said coaching in the collegiate ranks involves a lot more experimentation than in the PBA.

“If you asked me last year if the collegiate game is less predictable than the PBA, I would’ve replied yes,” said Black.”But this past season, you saw a lot of PBA coaches doing different things. I sat on the Talk ‘N’ Text bench last conference and I can attest to the high level of quality coaching in the PBA. In the collegiate ranks, you see more experimentation, more variety in playing defense with full-court and half-court traps, box-and-ones, triangle-and-twos, 2-3 zones and others. But in the PBA, coaches are just so talented and intelligent.”

Black, shooting for his third straight UAAP crown, said Ateneo will lose only Salamat and Jason Escueta to graduation. Next season, the Eagles will be reinforced by a strong rookie group made up of 6-11 Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena, Gwyne Capacio, Von Pessumal and Mark Tallo Jr.