4 Long Years (Ateneo Blue Eaglets Season 77 Championship Article)

4 long years.

It’s been 4 long years ever since the Ateneo Blue Eaglets brought the Juniors Basketball Championship to Katipunan. It’s been 4 long years ever since the Blue Eaglets experienced glory in the UAAP. It’s been 4 long years of waiting.

4 long years of losing.

4 long years of trying to hold in the tears every time the Blue Eaglets would be eliminated from contention for the championship.

4 long years of keeping confident that somehow, this drought will come to an end eventually.

It did come to an end, and oh boy, the story that unfolded before our very eyes as that drought ended was simply amazing.

An Offseason of Change

The Eaglets were determined to bring the title back to Katipunan.
(Photo Credit: Philip Sison) 

After losing a heartbreaker of a Finals series against the Hubert Cani led NU Bullpups, for sure, something had to change.

Some people were starting to have doubts with the coaching acumen of Joe Silva when it came to these Eaglets. He had the talent with his squad. In fact, he had 5 national team members in his team with the Nieto twins, Thirdy Ravena, Jolo Mendoza and Aaron Black all part of the national team.

What was the problem? Why couldn’t the Eaglets win a championship despite all the talent that they had? Was it the coaching? Was it the performance of the players? What was up?

To be honest, I can’t give a clear answer of what exactly changed with the Eaglets during that offseason, but here were some things which I did notice during that offseason..

1.       The recruitment of the Eaglets turned up a notch.

During the offseason, the Eaglets were able to lock up Bacolod based Basketball Phenom SJ Belangel. In fact, rumor has it that SJ was supposed to suit up already as a freshman for the Eaglets, but UAAP eligibility rules stopped him from doing so. (he would’ve been the 4^th to do so. The first three? Jay Javelosa, Kiefer Ravena and Jolo Mendoza) They were also able to lock up Dave Ildefonso (Son of Danny I and brother of Shaun) and the Berjay brothers from London.

2.        The team looked deeper compared to past squads.

The distribution of minutes for the Eaglets during offseason tournaments such as the Filoil Flying V Preseason Tournament were very even compared to past squads. Last year, one common complaint that people had with the Eaglets was that Thirdy Ravena played too much for the team. That wasn’t the case for this squad as the “Big Three” of the Eaglets (Mendoza, Nietos) played less than 30 minutes each during the tournaments.

3.       Unleashing the young ‘uns.

Jolo Mendoza was called “The Next Kiefer” when he entered the High School. People couldn’t believe it yet because he was held back his first two years. However, his usage (finally) went up during the preseason, with him capping it off with a 36 point outing against La Salle Greenhills during the Filoil tournament. Other guys who were unleashed as well were Gian Mamuyac, Enzo Joson, and Lakay Jr. Shaun Ildefonso.

4.       The evident chemistry of the team in and out of the court

 This is a team with three Batang Gilas U17 members, and do take note, those three were very critical when it came to the success of the national team in the FIBA World Cup. Despite the “Big Three” status that Mendoza and the Nietos had, there was “special importance” placed upon the three when it came to proceedings with the team. Since this was the case, the chemistry of the team was so splendid off the court, that this then resulted to success in the court.

Those things resulted to the Eaglets doing particularly well during the offseason. They may have not won any major tournaments, but they were able to show people that they were able to change from last year’s debacle. To cap it off, they were able to beat Juniors powerhouse San Beda during the Filoil tournament.

It was time to put all of that together into a UAAP Championship.

Flawed Dominance

Despite Brix Ramos' presence as a match up nightmare for the Eaglets, something
still seemed off with their performance.
(Photo Credit: UBL)

The Ateneo Blue Eaglets started out hot, by virtue of their standings at least, in the UAAP Season 77 Basketball Tournament.  Despite this, the first round was rather.. flawed for the Eaglets. Sure they won all their games, but they didn’t really pick up a convincing, dominating win against any of the contenders.

They started out hot against La Salle, but they wound up collapsing in the end game before salvaging the game. The same thing happened against the FEU Baby Tamaraws, while their win against the Adamson Baby Falcons was far from a dominating one. Their win against the NU Bullpups, which snapped a 22 game winning streak for them, was arguably their best win of the first round for the simple reason that they finally stopped the rampaging Jeff Napa led squad.

Despite the immaculate record which the Eaglets carried onto the second round, not everything seemed to be sure for Ateneo. They still looked like a team that could be easily beat. They didn’t look like a team that was dominating and fearsome, something which people saw when it came to the championship teams of their senior counterparts.

Were these Eaglets for real?

Were they really a team that should’ve been feared?

No Mercy

The Nieto Twins simply stamped their dominance during the second round of action
in the UAAP Juniors Basketball Tournament.
(Photo Creidt: Spin.ph) 

These Eaglets were for real.

They weren’t just the Batang Gilas Boys and the back – ups.

They were indeed a team.

They gave solid NU and FEU squads HELL during their respective second round games against them. Against FEU, that had a destructive core of Filoil MVP Brandrey Bienes, Christian Fajarito, Wendell Comboy and Marvin Lee, they applied an insane press which caused the Tamaraws to choke into submission. It wasn’t the “Big Three” which did the most damage in this game. It was guys like Shaun Ildefonso, Enzo Joson, Gian Mamuyac, Jossier Hassan and Justin Eustaquio that did the most damage for the Blue Eaglets with the incredible in your face defense they displayed in that game. The same could be said for their performance against the Bullpups, as they used the same ultra – aggressive press which suffocated the Baby Tamaraws. Because of that win against the Bullpups, the Eaglets secured a thrice to beat advantage for the Finals, something that last happened when Kiefer Ravena was still a High School student. 

The stage was set for the Eaglets. It looked like the championship was headed back to Katipunan.

Or so they thought.

Unleashing the Bullpups

Mark Dyke just went berserk against the Eaglets in Game 1.
(Photo Credit: Rivals.PH)

Something seemed wrong with the Bullpups during the massacre which they were victims of against the Eaglets' full court pressure. They didn't look motivated. They looked exhausted. 

It looked like the Eaglets unleashed the Bullpups because of that win.

NU simply went on a RAMPAGE during the stepladder format. They made La Salle and Adamson look so bad with the way they defended them. This rampage of the Bullpups was led by none other than Mark Dyke, who had 23 points and 26 rebounds against the Falcons in their tie breaking game. 

As feared, the next victim of the Bullpups were indeed the Eaglets. For the first game of the Finals, they removed the running game of the Eaglets and instead turned it into a Grit 'N Grind affair, where offensive rebounding was the game. The rebounding disparity between NU and Ateneo was huge, with NU having the advantage. 

The defense of NU definitely shackled the Eaglets. They shot poorly from the field during Game 1, with the "Big Three" of the Eaglets missing 38 shots combined, with Mike Nieto missing 19 of those 38 misses (he was 8/27, 2/11 from inside the arc).

All of a sudden, the Eaglets were exposed. They didn't look as invincible as they did before. Their vaunted press was incredibly inconsistent, and finally, the Bulldogs were unleashed from their cage.

Was it the end of the Eaglets' championship hopes?

Not on this man's watch.

"Magpakilala ka na!"

Phenom to Phenom. World, meet Jolo Mendoza.
(Photo Credit: Mon Rubio, The Shaded Lane) 

Those were the words that Thirdy Ravena tweeted to Jolo Mendoza before the latter's FIBA Worlds tilt in Dubai. Even before Jolo played his first game as an Eaglet, people were already proclaiming the junior shooting guard as "The Next Kiefer". After all, he was incredible, to say the least, during his final years as a student in the Ateneo Grade School. Mendoza has played 3 years in the UAAP, and people feel that Jolo hasn't introduced himself yet to the world, often letting his senior players, such as Thirdy Ravena, Mike Nieto and Matt Nieto take over the offense.

Finally, for the last two games in the Finals for Season 77, nagpakilala na siya.

For Game 2, Ateneo played much better overall, winning 78 - 76, led by Jolo Mendoza's 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Ateneo led most of the way, repulsing a late NU run in the end led by Philip Manalang. A lot of people took note of Mendoza's performance in that game.

Turns out he wasn't done.

He started off cold in the first quarter in Game 3. Come the second quarter, OH BOY WAS HE HOT. He scored 19 POINTS in that quarter alone, totaling 21 points for the first half. He didn't just score with the jumper he's become known for. He showed off an aggressive driving game people haven't see from him, and was it magical. He ended the game with 30 points, finally introducing himself to the world after so long. #JoloIsGold also ended the game with Finals MVP honors. Most importantly, he ended the game with the championship.

The Eaglets ended the game with the championship.

After 4 long years.

The Juniors Basketball Championship is back in Katipunan.
(Photo Credit: Mon Rubio, The Shaded Lane)

The Future

This season, there are 5 graduating seniors for the Blue Eaglets. Those 5 are the Nieto brothers, Marc Salandanan, Brix Ramos and Japheth Moreno. The biggest loss there are obviously the Nietos, as they were integral with the offense of the Eaglets along with Jolo Mendoza. Salandanan, Ramos and Moreno are huge losses as well, as the three provided necessary back court help when needed with their three point sniping, versatility and hustle respectively.

All is not lost however.

Andre Flores. James Credo. Dave Ildefonso. SJ Belangel.
These are just some of the names that you should watch out for these next few years.

Other than current Eaglets standouts Jolo Mendoza, Gian Mamuyac, Enzo Joson, Shaun Ildefonso, Jossier Hasaan, Justin Eustaquio, Dale Termoso, Zack Bernardo, Al Rosales and Carlos Gatmaytan, there are other future Eaglets you should watch out for these next few years.

The most notable names right now among the underclassmen are SJ Belangel, Dave Ildefonso and RV Berjay. Berjay and Ildefonso are both big men, with Ildefonso possessing a more finesse game compared to his brother. Belangel, on the other hand, is tagged to take over the reins from Jolo Mendoza when he graduates. He's a scoring maestro, once scoring 99 POINTS (Yes, 99) in a game. He's also an adept passer, despite him still having to learn the style of play here in Manila after coming from the province.

The present is definitely a bright one for the Ateneo De Manila Blue Eaglets. After all, they did just win a championship after 4 long years. Despite the shiny present, the future may be even brighter with the amount of talent that's on board. That's for the future though. Now, the Eaglets celebrate.

Because they finally claimed the throne once again.

After 4 long years.

#OBF