Black's boys confident minus last year's Big 3

MANILA, Philippines - No Rabeh Al-Hussaini to give the leather to in crunchtime. No Nonoy Baclao to patrol the shaded lane. No Jai Reyes to hit the shots from way out.

No problem for the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

The three-peat-seeking wards of multi-titled coach Norman Black have proved that they can do the job themselves, piling up a second-best 10-4 record spiked by a six-game roll to easily march into the Final Four.

Black said what makes the present crop dangerous is the fact that anyone can take the spotlight, from Erik Salamat (11.3 ppg, 4.1 apg, 1.9 spg) to Nico Salva (9.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Kirk Long (9.2 ppg, 2.8 apg, 1.6 spg), Justin Chua (9.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 bpg), Emman Monfort (7.9 ppg, 1.9 apg) and Ryan Buenafe (7.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.4 apg).

“We’re a little unpredictable this year as far as who’s going step up. We have lots of guys who have confidence that they can score unlike in the last few years when you knew where the basketball was going - Al-Hussaini. This year, it’s different in that our offense is a little more balanced and difficult to read,” Black said.

Their defense has been solid, too.

“That’s really our calling card. We really want to come out and play good defense each game; it’s the reason we’re winning in the past,” said Black whose wards were the best in holding down opponents’ score (62.9 ppg) and marksmanship (34.5 percent).

“Even though we don’t have the defensive presence of (former players) Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Noy Baclao we still play good team defense,” he added.

The No. 2 Eagles are up against No. 3 Adamson, which they swept in two meetings this year, actually 27 counting the previous showdown dating back to 1997.

“Both our games went down the last seconds so I expect a very difficult game against them in the semifinals,” he said.