IT’S’ not going to be easy, but host Ateneo is battle-ready and prepared to defend its UAAP men’s cage title when basketball competition of Season 74 formally comes off the wraps on July 10 at the Araneta Coliseum.
The three-time reigning champion may have lost key players Ryan Buenafe and Eric Salamat, although it will parade new faces in national team player Greg Slaughter and former high school phenom Kiefer Ravena in its quest for a fourth straight varsity championship under coach Norman Black.
The Blue Eagles, newly crowned FilOil 2011 champions, however, expect a rough road back to the top as the rest of the field beefed up their respective rosters in the hope of toppling what has become an Ateneo basketball dynasty in the country’s premiere college league.
From Season 74 president Ricky Palou, Ateneo Board representative Emmanuel Fernandez, to Blue Eagles team manager Paolo Trillo, the consensus is that Far Eastern University Tamaraws and Adamson Falcons are the two elite teams expected to crowd out the Katipunan-based school for the coveted crown.
“It’s a tough league and any team can beat any team,” said Trillo, who comprised the Ateneo panel which appeared in Tuesday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s U.N. Ave. “But if you’re asking which are the teams that pose as major threats, I would say its FEU and Adamson because of their intact lineup.”
Reigning league MVP RR Garcia and Smart Gilas-Pilipinas standout Aldrech Ramos are again at the forefront of the Tamaraws’s bid to reclaim the title they last won in 2006, while Alex Nuyles, Jan Colina and Eric Camson will be back for another tour of duty for the Falcons.
Palou, who is also Ateneo athletic director, is likewise not discounting the threats of bitter rival La Salle and the rejuvenated National University squad, whose athletic director, June Baculi, was present too, in the same session presented by Smart, PAGCOR, Shakey’s and Outlast Battery.
The Bulldogs, coming off a championship stint in the recent Fr. Martin’s Cup, will again be bannered by last year’s Mythical 5 member Emmanuel Mbe, although additional firepower is going to be provided by former national youth team stalwarts Kyle Drexler Neypes, Cedrick Labing-isa and the much-heralded Bobby Ray Parks.
Baculi considers NU and La Salle as possible dark horses, but really likes the Bulldogs’ chances if and when Parks will be given the go-signal to play by the UAAP Board.
The son of legendary former PBA import Bobby Parks is still doubtful to play for the Bulldogs owing to illegibility issue, which the Board won’t addressed until July 5.
“We will present the documents to the Board,” said Baculi, pertaining to papers certifying that the 16-year-old Parks attended secondary schooling at NU.
“So it is up to the Board to decide if he (Parks) can play this season or not.”
According to Palou Ateneo is leaving nothing to chance to make the school’s hosting this season special.
Unlike before when basketball competition formally ushers the new season, this year will have Season 74 being unveiled behind an Olympic-style opening at the Marikina Sports Complex on July 9.
Palou said athletes representing all sports calendared in the UAAP will be in attendance during the fiesta-like gathering which has for its theme `All Out, All Heart.’
The following day, action in basketball begins, with FEU taking on La Salle in the 1 p.m. opener and Ateneo opening its title retention bid against Adamson at 3 p.m.[PSA PR]
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