MANILA, Philippines - After two weeks of action, UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball has become a theater of unpredictability.
Defending champion La Salle, the consensus team-to-beat, found itself in the company of lightweights State U and Adamson at the bottom after getting ambushed by Far Eastern and losing to “darkhorse” Ateneo.
The relatively young Eagles now share top spot with National U and University of the East, two squads considered contenders in pre-tournament talks.
The Tams, after stunning the Archers, bowed to Santo Tomas, a team that previously looked in disarray in its opening-game loss to the Bulldogs.
“The league is very unpredictable,” said FEU coach Nash Racela. “All the teams have legitimate chances sa tournament this year and the results of one game will not dictate the results of future games.”
“You can’t really depend on those things. (La Salle) Coach Juno (Sauler) was right when he said whatever the opinion of people are of our team, we shouldn’t live on that,” he added.
Although they’ve brought down a giant in powerhouse La Salle the other day, Ateneo coach Bo Perasol asked his wards not to get too carried away.
“When we returned to the dugout (after the game), my emphasis was this is just another win. This is not times two or times three on our slates; we’re only 2-0, not 4-0, because of this win,” Perasol said.
He did acknowledge the extra fire his wards showed against their rivals and wished to see the same against any other team.
“You know, iba pag La Salle-Ateneo. Kung mailalabas ko lang lagi ang ganitong pakiramdam nila pag La Salle-Ateneo, maganda ang resulta lagi (If only I can draw the same intensity and motivation they have in La Salle-Ateneo game against all the teams, we can get good results),” said Perasol.
In an unlikely spot after two games, the Archers remained calm and confident, knowing what is required of them to get out of the doldrums.
“We just have to toughen up a little more on defense,” said DLSU coach Juno Sauler, citing how the shooters of FEU and AdMU managed to “kill” them. “It’s just our mental defense. That’s what we need to improve on and try to be consistent on the offensive end, knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve.”