Unanimous choice

Season 82 UAAP men’s basketball coaches are ready to rumble for the coming tournament. DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG

Three-peat seeking Ateneo de Manila University, as expected, is tipped to bring home the crown of Season 82 University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

The new season of the most prestigious collegiate league opened yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena with an opening ceremony and the Blue Eagles are the consensus pick to win it all again.

“It’s quite obvious that it is going to be Ateneo. From player one to player 16, I think in terms of skills, they are all the same,” Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren said.

University of the Philippines (UP) mentor Bo Perasol, whose Fighting Maroons reached the finals last season for the first time since 1986, and National University (NU) coach Jamike Jarin echoed Pumaren’s statement.

“It’s given that the Ateneo will still be on top come the season 82 of the UAAP,” said Perasol, whose wards lost to Ateneo in the best-of-three finals last year.

“Ateneo will still be the number one team while the Adamson will be close to them. UP will be going out strong,” Jarin said.

Blue Eagles mentor Tab Baldwin admitted the pressure to defend the title is always there and they just have to do their thing as the season progresses.

“When you’re coming from a championship, it contributes a lot to that expectation. But on the other hand, there’s a little bit of psychology that comes to play,” Baldwin said. “A lot of teams has a target pointed at you.”

The former Gilas coach said the Soaring Falcons are also the team to watch this season.

“It’s Adamson. They are the next best team but it’s still tough to predict who’s gonna be the top team,” he added.

La Salle is parading a new coach in Gian Nazario with American Jermaine Byrd as his active consultant. The Green Archers lost to Far Eastern University (FEU) in the playoffs for the last semis slot and Nazario said their new players will put them in a good position to contend for a Final Four slot.

“All teams have done a good job in recruiting players. Everyone is a team to beat and it’s just a matter of getting better every game,” Nazario said.

Former La Salle mentor and now University of Santo Tomas coach Aldin Ayon shared the same sentiment and added the season will be unpredictable.

FEU coach Olsen Racela gave Ateneo and UP the first two slots in the semis while the last two are up for grabs.