Joel Banal's fearless forecast: Eagles via sweep

MANILA, Philippines – Joel Banal gets to talk more these days about Ateneo’s last championship. He works everyday with two guys who were part of that feat. “LA [Tenorio] and Larry [Fonacier], if we have a chance to discuss it, we do. I mean it was a very special experience and until now, it’s something you cherish and never forget," Banal, currently an Alaska assistant coach, said. In Ateneo’s history in the UAAP, the Eagles have won only three titles, but the third one engineered by Banal in 2002 came after a 13-season championship drought. GMANews.TV caught up with Banal who talked about his Loyola Heights experience, who’s the better Ateneo team (his or Norman Black’s), and why he boldly predicts the UAAP finals are over. GMANews.TV: Have you seen Ateneo play this season? Banal: Yes. Throughout the first and second rounds during the elimination round. Then the first game of the finals. What do you think of this team? Banal: [La Salle coach] Franz [Pumaren] is right when he said that Ateneo is not a strong team. It’s a very strong team. I think it was [former Senator] Freddie Webb who said that but Franz acknowledged that I think even before Game One. To me, Franz must find a way to keep the game short. If the game is long, then Ateneo’s deep bench will begin to matter. I don’t know how [Franz] is going to do that but he has to. At what point did you think Ateneo would be this strong? Banal: The first time I saw them was when they played against the RP youth team last summer which Franz was coaching. I felt that Franz kind of felt that Ateneo was going to be strong. I mean Ateneo just overpowered the RP youth during their game. That’s why coming into the tournament, I felt Ateneo was the team to beat. Credit that to Norman for doing a good job with the recruits, especially with kids like Ryan Buenafe. Can you talk about how you came to Ateneo? Banal: Coach Joe Lipa was at the end of his three-year contract with Ateneo so people were talking about a possible replacement. It just so happened that I had an interview with Talk ’N Text. But since Mr. Manny Pangilinan was also involved in the choice of the Ateneo coach, I was put as head coach first of Ateneo before Talk ’N Text. Overall how was the experience like? Banal: It was a special time. Ateneo needed something to get over the hump to win the championship. At the time, the key was to break La Salle’s press. That was what we needed as some kind of finishing kick. I had to prove it was the right thing to do and I’m glad the team was able to come through. Since last year, I think Norman has done the exact same thing. They’re not giving La Salle’s shooters any looks and that has been the key for them as well. How was the pressure back then? Banal: Oh, that. I felt the pressure from the start. But because we won the [Philippine Basketball League] championship before the UAAP season, it’s like I proved we could win in the UAAP. On the other hand, the expectations became high because we had won something. Norman feels the same way now, I’m sure. Because Ateneo topped the eliminations, the expectations are just as high as when I was coaching in 2002. But when you accept the Ateneo head-coaching job, you know that the pressure comes with the territory. Everybody expects you to win. What do you think of the current series? Banal: I think it’s over. Beating La Salle by a big margin with your two scorers [Chris Tiu and Eric Salamat] scoring two points each? That gives you a lot of confidence going into Game Two. I just feel La Salle has to do something very drastic to turn the series around. If your Ateneo team faced the 2008 Eagles, who do you think would win? Banal: I had a lot of graduating players during my time so meaning, we had more experience. And also, I feel the La Salle team in ’02 was a lot stronger than what they have now and you can see that in offense. The defense is there no matter who your players are, but I can see now that [La Salle] has been struggling on offense. I think they’re a little bit inferior as far as offense is concerned because in 02 La Salle had [Mac-Mac] Cardona, BJ Manalo and Mike Cortez so it was different. But our team I think had more experienced players. It’s just that Rabeh [al-Hussaini] has been so dominant for Norman’s team. – Dominic Menor, GMANews.TV