By NIKOLE JAVIER
Will it be a repeat of history or will the redemption be completed?
The intriguing questions are set to find its answers when defending champions University of the Philippines and Ateneo battle for glory one last time in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball Finals on Monday, Dec. 19, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Fighting Maroons and the Blue Eagles, the same teams that figured in an epic Finals duel last season, found themselves in the similar positions after seven months, when they take the centerstage anew in the 6 p.m. encounter.
Ateneo, which forced the rubber match after a 65-55 Game 2 triumph, looks to exorcise the ghost of the past and complete its payback against UP — the very same team that dealt it a heartbreaking Finals loss that also denied the proud school a fourth straight championship.
Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin, however, refused to dwell on the past as he hopes his charges can write a different ending to the story this time around.
“I don’t think last season has anything to do with this season at all. I’ve already said even though UP team looks almost exactly the same as the UP team from last year, it’s a different team. They do different things. I never liked the concept of defending champion,” said veteran tactician.
“We don’t think that we are cursed by last season, and we don’t think UP deserves to champion this season because they were champions last season. They gotta earn it, they know that. We have to earn it, we know that. Let it be Season 85, not 84. This stands on its own, and I think it’s gonna be a wild game on Monday. It should be fun,” he added.
Ateneo’s ever-reliable big man Ange Kouame will be at the forefront of the attack along with this season’s mythical team members Dave Ildefonso and Forthsky Padrigao.
Living up to their battlecry, UP, on the other hand, aim to display the heart of the champions when it continues its fight even with the absence of one of its leaders in Zav Lucero who sustained an ACL tear in Game 2.
Wounded but unbowed, the Fighting Maroons battle for their fallen comrade as they look to draw more contributions from season MVP Malik Diouf, and stars Carl Tamayo and Henry Galinato.
JD Cagulangan, whose late triple in UP’s 72-69 Game 3 overtime win ended the school’s 36-year title drought, is also expected to step up to give the Maroons a historic second title in just a year span.
“Importante lang dito kung anong response mo sa ginagawa sayo. I just felt — nung game two — meron kaming chance to play better as a team, to overcome yung dinadaanan and kahit ano naman ang haharapin namin on Monday, haharapin naman namin,” said UP head coach Goldwyn Monteverde
