Games Saturday
(Mall of Asia Arena)
10 a.m. – FEU vs UST
1 p.m. – AdU vs NU
4 p.m. – Ateneo vs UP
7 p.m. – DLSU vs UE
By CARLO ANOLIN
The UAAP Season 84 kicks off Saturday two years after the 82nd season was shortened due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sans the presence of university crowd and live spectators, eight universities will begin their UAAP campaigns in unfamiliar territory as games were set in a bubble setup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Defending champion Ateneo begins its four-peat drive against University of the Philippines, the season’s first “Battle of Katipunan,” at 4 p.m.
Interestingly, both Katipunan-based squads were selected as teams to beat by the majority of the coaches with Gilas veterans Ange Kouame and SJ Belangel leading the Eagles while rookie Carl Tamayo and Ricci Rivero will spearhead the Maroons of coach Goldwin Monteverde.
Also tipped to figure prominently in the title race are La Salle, Far Eastern University, and University of Santo Tomas.
“Obviously, like everybody, we’re excited about the start of UAAP,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin. “[I] just wanna conclude by saying that it’s great to be back and I wish all the other coaches, all the other captains, all the other teams, all the very best and I can’t wait to see you on the court.”
Manila neighbor schools FEU and UST will set the pace of basketball action at 10 a.m., Adamson and National University will clash at 1 p.m., while De La Salle and University of the East will cap off today’s quadruple-header at 7 p.m.
A pre-recorded opening ceremony, as mentioned earlier by Season 84 President Nonong Calanog of host De La Salle, will signal the start of the new season to be followed right away by the basketball matches.
Prior to the matches, all players, coaches, staff, and personnel, will be required to undergo antigen testing. RT-PCR tests, on the other hand, will be done every 14 days.
Teams will play in a double round-robin format and the Top 4 teams will advance to the playoffs. Depending on the standings, stepladder playoffs may take place.
Two years ago, Ateneo won the crown unbeaten apart from sweeping the elims that resulted to a stepladder format in the Final Four with No. 2 UP securing a twice-to-beat advantage, while FEU and UST completed the cast.
The Growling Tigers clawed their way to the Finals by beating the Tamaraws and the Fighting Maroons but the Blue Eagles, led by three-time Finals Most Valuable Player Thirdy Ravena, emerged victorious in two straight games en route to their third consecutive UAAP title since Season 80.
Meanwhile, Baldwin said this season will be met with many unknowns, starting from revamped and renewed squads, change of coaching staff, the whole bubble experience, among others.
Baldwin added that the thrill of starting the collegiate season amid the Covid-19 pandemic will “counterbalance the fact that we might not be playing our best basketball.”
“The bubble setup offers its advantages and disadvantages… they have a lot of time together and that’s an advantage. I think they could spend more off-court time working on the mental side of the game with the players,” said the three-time UAAP champion coach. “But even though we’ve been in the bubble, it’s been an abbreviated buildup, I think only since January, and that’s very short period of time to get these teams and players ready. I think that probably will be reflected in the performance of the teams.”
