FEU-Ateneo title duel: A question of desire

MANILA, Philippines – Coaches Glen Capacio of Far Eastern University and Norman Black of Ateneo both refused to carry the “favorite” tag in their upcoming UAAP Season 73 men’s basketball finals showdown but hinted that desire and hunger for breakthrough win and three-peat will stoke the fire of the championship.

“Even though we beat them twice in the elims, they (Eagles) are favored because they have the championship experience plus they are motivated to get that three-peat,” Capacio said during yesterday’s PSA Forum in Manila.

Black disagreed: “They’ve been the No. 1 team the entire season while we’ve just been hanging around, trying to get our shot. “

“FEU is a very balanced team unlike the other UAAP teams in which we only concentrate on containing the small guys or concentrate on the big guys. But with them, we really have to concentrate on everybody and it’s going be a very difficult task,” added Black.

However, both mentors agreed that the hunger factor would be at play in the best-of-three series which starts Saturday in another down-to-the-wire contest like in their first two meetings, which ended with the Tams winning by three (72-69) and two points (74-72).

Capacio said his wards are eager to clinch that breakthrough title after failing to make the finals the last four years.

“The positive thing on our side is we’re hungrier and we can deliver against all odds,” Capacio said. “With God, anything is possible as long as we work hard and do our best.”

For his part, Black said winning two straight crowns does not make his crew less hungry.

“We want to continue winning and our motivation is now to get a three-peat. We feel as hungry as they are,” Black said.

In the same forum, FEU’s MVP RR Garcia and skipper Jens Knuttel both expressed excitement to play in the finals for the first time.

“It’s nice to be in the finals; this will be a great match because we’re up against the defending champions. We’re excited and we’ll all give our best,” Garcia said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, anticipating a hard-fought finals, Capacio and Black appealed for consistency in officiating in the best-of-three series.

“Officiating is really important because FEU and Ateneo are basically evenly-matched, no one had a distinct advantage in this finals. Our two previous games were close and only breaks of the game decided the outcome. So our request is for officiating to be fair,” Capacio said.

Capacio has been among the most vocal coaches against perceived bad calls, even getting a technical foul for disputing an offensive foul slapped on Pippo Noundou in the Tams’ 69-59 overtime win over La Salle in the Final Four.

Black, who in one instance even accosted a referee at the end of the game, said game officials should be consistent.

“Whether we like it or not, we have bad calls and good calls. We could only hope for consistency on how they’re gonna call the game on both ends. We’re looking for consistency so coaches and players can adjust,” said Black.

UAAP commissioner Ato Badolato, meanwhile, said game officials are doing their best to address the coaches’ concerns.

“We can’t really make an assurance that there won’t be any mistakes by the referees. But we’ve already talked about consistency which has been the coaches’ No. 1 request,” he said.

Olmin Leyba, Philippine Star