After two years of playing together, brothers Shaun and Dave found themselves on opposing ends for the first time on Tuesday evening.
And the two put on a show with their game and their antics during the Ateneo-National University clash.
It was an Ildefenshow, no pun intended.
For Dave, he was just excited to see the new-look Bulldogs in the flesh.
“Extra motivation, not really because I never really need it but as a player, that’s what I strive to be – I wanna be a player that doesn’t need motivation,” said Dave after Ateneo’s 74-64 victory over NU.
“I was really excited to play NU because I wanted to see how they were and I’m really happy for them because they have a great system this year. They’re in really great hands under Coach Jeff (Napa).”
“Okay naman,” countered Shaun. “Expected talaga namin na makaka-score (si Dave) but pinlano kase namin how we’re gonna defend the Ateneo, yung buong team. Hopefully sana makita ng tao na they should put respect to our name diba?
“I think I can honestly say that it was the first time Ateneo felt pressure this season. Hindi ko ishu-sugarcoat yan. Kitang-kita namin na first time nila naramdaman yung pressure and sa huli lang kami bumitaw and ganyan tatas maturity namin eh.”
The two heirs of the legendary Danny Ildefonso made it a point to perform particularly well this evening. Both of them even traded baskets at one point with less than four minutes to go in the third quarter as the Bulldogs gave the Blue Eagles arguably the latter’s most difficult test yet this season.
Understandably, though, the two brothers are also very competitive. All the brotherly love they have was set aside once the game tipped off, especially since their respective teams have certain targets to be achieved this season.
“It was fun facing (Shaun) because he’s a much more physically-gifted athlete than I am,” said Dave who scored 14 points in close to 27 minutes of action. “It was really hard guarding him especially when he was downhill. I tried to sag on him a bit more because he has no shot. He has no shot. That’s in my scouting report. I really know his weaknesses.
“Some of the guys there, I played with them so long so I kinda know their strengths and their weaknesses. I tried to help out my team in defending them. Sadly it didn’t work out as well but we got the win.”
“Natuwa kami sa depensa namin especially kay Dave but game-changer talaga was Ange Kouame,” lamented Shaun as Kouame also tallied a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocks. “Given na yun eh. Wala akong masasabi on anything that didn’t work. Tuwang-tuwa kami with how we performed today but a loss is a loss. We just have to move forward and be thankful with the experience we had kanina.
“Siyempre pagkatapos ng laro, magkapatid naman kami pero kanina naman talaga I treated him as kalaban talaga and sobrang masarap yun sa feeling na finally nakalaban ko siya and for sure masasabi rin to ng tatay ko. It was a joy playing against him and Ateneo, which is a much more stronger and talented team.”
For Dave, it was win number five for Ateneo. Transferring from NU in the prolonged off-season, he is fitting in well as the replacement of Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos.
On the other hand, Shaun is a leader of a Bulldogs team climbing upwards under the tutelage of coach Jeff Napa. There is still a long way to go for NU but the signs are good that it is finally a competitive force once again.
“We’re built up by rookies. Yung Ateneo sobrang veteran ng mga yun,” said the older Ildefonso.
“Sobrang thankful kami sa experience and right now we know where we’re at and we’re just gonna move forward.”
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