THE opportunity to end the long title drought is enough motivation for the University of the East Red Warriors to defy the odds when they take on defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles in UAAP men’s basketball finals starting tomorrow.
The third seed Red Warriors pulled the rug from under second seed and season host Far Eastern University Tamaraws in the Final Four with back-to-back wins of 84-74 and 78-72.
“My fear is that the players might feel contended being in the Final Four since nobody really gave this team a chance. But this is a golden opportunity for all of us to end decades of misfortunes.
This does not happen every year and I hope this will be our motivation,” said UE coach Lawrence Chongson who graced yesterday’s SCOOP sa Kamayan with Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
The last time the Red Warriors bagged the UAAP crown was in 1985. Back then, UE was led by the prolific tandem of Allan Caidic and Jerry Codiñera.
In 2007, the Dindo Pumaren-coached Red Warriors nearly ended the title drought as they reached the Finals after having swept the double round elimination. They, however, bowed to the La Salle Green Archers in the titular showdown, 0-2.
Chongson admitted that his team is the underdog against the more seasoned Ateneo, a school rich in basketball tradition. He, however, said his team will be a worthy challenger as he will bank on his players who saw action in the Philippine Basketball League.
“We made it to the Finals because of our experience while playing in the PBL. Sino ba sina Paul Lee, Rudy Linganay, Val Acuna, Narciso Llagas at Elmer Espiritu noon? Sixty-five percent of why we are here in the Finals is because of our stint in the PBL. The 35% came from the experience we had while playing in the elimination round,” added Chongson.
Arespacochaga, on the other hand, knows how dangerous a hungry team like UE is going into the finals.
“Definitely, hindi tsamba ang ginawa ng UE (sa Final Four). We have been practicing since we went off but we really have yet to start devising our plan since it was only yesterday when we knew it was UE whom we’ll be playing,” said Arespacochaga.
Ateneo last played on Sept. 20 when it defeated University of Santo Tomas, 81-64, in the other Final Four duel.
“We really have to play better individual defense since Paul, Elmer, Pari (Llagas) and Val are good one on one players,” added Arespacochaga.
— Mike Lee, BANDERA Sports, 092609
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