MEM
Oct 13, 2000, 01:28 PM
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/SPRT/2000-10/SP101304.asp
Blazers: NCAA's comeback kids
IN WINNING its first National Collegiate Athletic Association championship, College of St. Benilde may also go down as the biggest underdog to go all the way in the collegiate league.
Nobody thought the Blazers, one of two expansion teams accepted in 1998, would survive long enough to make the Final Four. They started the campaign at 0-3 and looked like goners while most of the attention was focused on heavy favorites University of Perpetual Help-Rizal and Jose Rizal College.
“After the 0-3 start, everybody was criticizing us,” said St. Benilde coach Dong Vergeire. “But we proved our detractors wrong.’’
Disheartening the start of the campaign may be, Vergeire persevered to get things right. He assessed the team’s performance to find out what was going wrong and took note of the weaknesses and strengths of his players, hoping to get it back on track.
He found one common denominator: defense.
“Hinanapan ko ng potensyal ang bawat isa, and the common denominator was defense. So I patterned a full-court trapping defense according to their individual potential,’’ related Vergeire.
“Then I talked to them and told them that if you believe in yourselves, nothing is impossible. I guess the key was when we started to believe in ourselves. They became eager to win and after that, we ourselves were surprised to be in the Final Four,’’ he added.
The Blazers ended the eliminations with eight straight wins to book a spot in the Final Four, where they knocked off the Perpetual Altas to forge the championship showdown with San Sebastian.
The odds, again, were not on St. Benilde’s side in the best-of-three finals. Afterall, it was up against a San Sebastian team that had won five of the league’s last six titles and was widely regarded as one of the most successful teams ever. But Vergeire, it turned out, liked it that way.
“The underdog tag really pushed the boys to prove themselves,” he said.
Like what they’ve done all campaign, the Blazers once again defied the odds in the title series. They opened with a 66-64 squeaker in Game One and took no chances in Game Two, wrapping up the championship with a lopsided 71-64 victory.
“It was a team effort. Everybody contributed well,’’ said Vergeire afterwards. “The boys proved they deserved to win the crown. They played a very good game and really showed their will and determination out there.”
Now, St. Benilde has established itself as one of the forces to reckon with in the league. And the Blazers intend to keep it that way next year, where they hope to return with an almost intact line-up. Only two players, Jose Manuel Diloy and John Eric Cruz, will be gone after this season.
“We don’t want to think about goodbyes for now,” Vergeire said. “What we want to do is savor this championship first — as one team.’’
Blazers: NCAA's comeback kids
IN WINNING its first National Collegiate Athletic Association championship, College of St. Benilde may also go down as the biggest underdog to go all the way in the collegiate league.
Nobody thought the Blazers, one of two expansion teams accepted in 1998, would survive long enough to make the Final Four. They started the campaign at 0-3 and looked like goners while most of the attention was focused on heavy favorites University of Perpetual Help-Rizal and Jose Rizal College.
“After the 0-3 start, everybody was criticizing us,” said St. Benilde coach Dong Vergeire. “But we proved our detractors wrong.’’
Disheartening the start of the campaign may be, Vergeire persevered to get things right. He assessed the team’s performance to find out what was going wrong and took note of the weaknesses and strengths of his players, hoping to get it back on track.
He found one common denominator: defense.
“Hinanapan ko ng potensyal ang bawat isa, and the common denominator was defense. So I patterned a full-court trapping defense according to their individual potential,’’ related Vergeire.
“Then I talked to them and told them that if you believe in yourselves, nothing is impossible. I guess the key was when we started to believe in ourselves. They became eager to win and after that, we ourselves were surprised to be in the Final Four,’’ he added.
The Blazers ended the eliminations with eight straight wins to book a spot in the Final Four, where they knocked off the Perpetual Altas to forge the championship showdown with San Sebastian.
The odds, again, were not on St. Benilde’s side in the best-of-three finals. Afterall, it was up against a San Sebastian team that had won five of the league’s last six titles and was widely regarded as one of the most successful teams ever. But Vergeire, it turned out, liked it that way.
“The underdog tag really pushed the boys to prove themselves,” he said.
Like what they’ve done all campaign, the Blazers once again defied the odds in the title series. They opened with a 66-64 squeaker in Game One and took no chances in Game Two, wrapping up the championship with a lopsided 71-64 victory.
“It was a team effort. Everybody contributed well,’’ said Vergeire afterwards. “The boys proved they deserved to win the crown. They played a very good game and really showed their will and determination out there.”
Now, St. Benilde has established itself as one of the forces to reckon with in the league. And the Blazers intend to keep it that way next year, where they hope to return with an almost intact line-up. Only two players, Jose Manuel Diloy and John Eric Cruz, will be gone after this season.
“We don’t want to think about goodbyes for now,” Vergeire said. “What we want to do is savor this championship first — as one team.’’