#BullByTheHorn: It's About Winning Tradition- Episode 2 Recap

One way or another, Episode Two of "Bull By the Horn" by Benny Benitez is worth watching even if it extended beyond its two-hour original timeslot. And with the assortment of topics that were tackled, it probably needed more than just two hours.

"Winning tradition in collegiate basketball" That was the main talking point of the second episode of "Bull By the Horn" by Benny Benitez as Pinoyliga founder Benny Benitez was joined in by one of the best sportscasters in the country in Jude Tucuarto and Pinoyliga sports columnist Vince Juico in tackling the success stories that made two of the best collegiate basketball programs as successful as they are right now.

Talking for the reigning three-time University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champions is Epok Quimpo who is serving as the team manager of the Ateneo Blue Eagles and on the other side, San Beda Red Lions Team Manager Jude Roque talked for the runner-ups of last year's runners-up in the men's basketball tournament of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Also joining in during the latter parts of the podcast was Robert "Berto" Bolick- a former King Lion who was also among the topics of the podcast. 

In the past years, both Ateneo and San Beda have not only established as powerhouses in their respective leagues but also, winning basketball programs in the collegiate level and in the words of Vince Juico, "It's never easy to run a successful program"

Right off the bat, both team managers of the Blue Eagles and the Red Lions agreed in saying that player recruitment is among the integral pieces of having a winning program. For Epok Quimpo who is also an important part of Ateneo's 2002 champion team, recruitment is about being able to scope the landscape not just in the Philippines but also in other countries through the team's close communication with other coaches from abroad. Quimpo also mentioned that Ateneo gives importance to its high school basketball program considering the fact that the Blue Eaglets program has been one of the best high school basketball programs we have in the country. 

In contrast, the Red Lions, believe it or not, have difficulty in their recruitment here In Metro Manila as  Jude Roque shared that most kids prefer to play in the UAAP and that pattern made San Beda expand its recruitment drive to the provinces and true enough, they were able to recruit players like Calvin Oftana who is the reigning Most Valuable Player in the NCAA. Roque also shared that this year, the college team of the Red Lions was able to recruit players from their successful high school program and that's something that according to Roque, rarely happens. Jude Roque even mentioned that in some cases, even high school players from San  Beda would prefer to play in the UAAP then ended up returning to San Beda. 

And while some recruitment adventures may end up successful, both Quimpo and Roque shared that recruiting a player is never an "easy peasy" thing to do even with all of the resources at their disposal. And at some point, you just need to be patient and that was the case for James Canlas and the Red Lions. According to Roque, Canlas initially had no plan to play college ball in the Philippines as he preferred to play in the US NCAA Division I. And even with his academic shortcomings at that time, Canlas was said to be bent on playing in the US NCAA and even with that, Jude Roque didn't drop the line as he constantly communicated with Canlas and even visited his family in Toronto until James Canlas started to re-consider playing in the Philippines. And even up to that point, things were difficult as James Canlas, at that time, was still a Canadian citizen and had to sit out his first year with San Beda due to his citizenship issue.

Ateneo, too, had to go the extra mile in their recruitment process as Epok Quimpo shared that they recruited a player who came all the way from New Zealand. And even in their local recruitment, the Blue Eagles experienced difficulties which included the need to convince SJ Belangel to fly to Manila from Iloilo to play for Ateneo in high school and eventually, college ball where he is now being tagged as the next King Eagle. Quimpo also shared the difficulty in recruiting the Blue Eagles' incoming rookie, Dwight Ramos as Ramos was too, a high-touted prospect in the US., Both team managers also shared more about the recruitment drives of their teams with Quimpo pointing out that it's also important to recruit players who have the energy to study and play because after all, they are student-athletes. 

Last night's podcast also talked about transfers of players from one team to the other and that, both Ateneo and San Beda had their fair shares of players who transfer either from other schools to either Ateneo or San Beda, or from either Ateneo or San Beda to other schools. For Ateneo, the most painful transfer that literally shocked the team was BJ Manalo who transferred from Ateneo to La Salle. But the Blue Eagles also benefited from the pattern of players jumping ships as William Navarro transferred to the blue and white squad form San Beda. But perhaps, the biggest story involving a transferee in the history of collegiate basketball was that of Robert Bolick Jr.

Bolick, a proud son of Leyte, played high school ball with La Salle Greenhills and was even a part of the 2013 La Salle champion team but he was about to be demoted to Team B and as Vince Juico pointed out, it's only human nature that when a situation isn't working for you, you would find a situation that will work for you and true enough, Bolick's arrival to San Beda worked wonders both for Bolick and the Red Lions. And for those of you who don't know, Bolick actually tried out for the Blue Eagles and that was the time when Ateneo was retooling their roster and that, Bollick was told by Epok Quimpo to consider all of his options because if it happened that Bolick did play for Ateneo, Bolick won't be able to transfer. Again. 

Jude Roque went on to share how the greatness that is Robert Bolick started. He hailed Bolick as one of the best collegiate players not just in the country but on the international stage as well. Bolick even averaged 25 points per game in a Dubai tournament where San Beda faced teams that had imports. That made Roque think that Bolick is indeed great for international play. 

The podcast also tackled about the presence of Filipino-foreign players in the collegiate ranks with Juico pointing out that the presence of these foreign student-athletes has helped in improving not just the team practices but also the games themselves as these talented foreign players have knowledge which they can impart to their teams. Quimpo even shared that Ateneo, being a UAAP powerhouse that they are right now, along with their established relationships with foreign coaches allows the team to get informed bt these coaches about the excelling players in their area and in some cases, the players themselves would even send an email to the team- expressing their interest to play for the team.

And since both San Beda and Ateneo are backed by sports patron, Manny V. Pangilinan,  the podcast also discussed how it is to be financially backed by the MVP Group of Companies. 

Jude Tucuarto, a former Blue Eagle himself, said that corporate backing plays an important part in the success of a winning basketball program. Tucuarto also pointed out that for the backing to be a success, it has to have the right attitude, and more importantly, it creates a culture that will work people work harder. It's also important that the man backing the team is passionate and truthfully, we cannot say anything about how passionate MVP is when it comes to basketball. Epok Quimpo even shared that MVP is a hands-on boss and that he expects results from the team. Jude Roque chimed in saying that the budget that the MVP Group is allotted for San Beda is separate from the budget that is allotted for Ateneo. 

The podcast lasted for two and a half hours and it looked like it would go on longer given how much we miss the game of basketball. But if there's one important takeaway from last night's episode that we should keep in mind, talented players can only bring you to a certain distance but players with the right attitude and the right mindset to work? Those are the type of players that make up a winning program. 

Screenshot is from the Facebook page of Pinoyliga.com