Eagles ready to battle sans key players
Defending champion Ateneo has accepted the suspension slapped on key player Thirdy Ravena and expressed confidence the rest of Blue Eagles will rise to the occasion as they seek revenge against first-round conqueror Far Eastern on Saturday.
Ravena got a one-game ban after the UAAP Commissioner’s Office reviewed his hit on University of the Philippines’ Paul Desiderio and upgraded the game-time warning call to unsportsmanlike foul. It was Ravena’s second unsportsmanlike foul, following a similar infraction in an earlier game against FEU, which resulted in an automatic sit out.
“I don’t think it’s worth appealing anymore,” AdMU team manager Epok Quimpo told The STAR yesterday.
“We respect the decision of coach Junel (UAAP commissioner Junel Baculi). Pinagaralan naman nila ito, I’m sure they went through every angle. It’s also a lesson for the players, not only for Thirdy, na walang lugar sa basketball ang ganyan.”
The Tams’ Arvin Tolentino and the Maroons Javi Gomez de Liano also drew sanctions and their respective squads, like Ateneo, are accepting their fates.
Tolentino was assessed a disqualifying foul for the second time this season, which merited a two-game suspension while Gomez de Liano incurred two technical fouls against Ateneo,
leading to one-match ban.
“We won’t (appeal),” said FEU’s athletic director Mark Molina, who cautioned Tolentino not to commit the same mistake again.
“Javi is our best scorer off the bench so there’s really a big effect,” said UP coach Bo Perasol. “The others must step up to make it happen for us.”
Ateneo also faces more personnel woes as twins Matt and Mike Nieto, who are out on injuries, are described as “day-to-day.” Matt is recovering from a finger injury while Mike is trying to get back from sprain.
“Hindi pa natin masabi if they can play on Saturday, ayaw naman namin ipilit. This is already the second round and it’s very fast kaya
maingat kami to put them in a position where they’re not yet fully recovered,” Quimpo said.
He expects the fit and available players to fill in.
“From Day One naman, the emphasis of coach Tab (Baldwin) is team play. We’ll lose the production in terms of points and rebounds of Thirdy, the leadership and points of Matt and the leadership, extra rebounds and points of Mike but I’m sure the others will step up and the system will come into play,” he said.