Saturday evening, two of the top collegiate teams in the country will face-off. UAAP Men’s Basketball champions Ateneo Blue Eagles take on NCAA Seniors Basketball champions San Beda Red Lions.
The game itself will have numerous interesting match-ups. For one, there is the heads-up between Javee Mocon and Thirdy Ravena.
Then there’s Robert Bolick versus Matt Nieto.
The two floor generals are seen as part of the future of Gilas Pilipinas with both being named to the 23 for 2023 Gilas Cadets.
Having trained together a few times, Bolick, who is the reigning Chooks-to-Go/UAAP-NCAA Press Corps Collegiate Basketball Player of the Year, admitted his admiration of Nieto’s on-court leadership.
In just his third-year with the Blue Eagles, Nieto, who stands at 6-foot-1, has made the steady rise, becoming one of the UAAP’s best point guards. He posted norms of 11.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists last season to steer the Blue Eagles to the top of the UAAP last season.
“Kahit konting beses lang kami nag-training, ang saya kasi kasama yung magagaling na players eh. Lalo yung mga gusto kong players, sina Matt Nieto,” admitted the 6-foot-1 combo guard.
“Pinapanood ko lagi laro ni Matt kasi nagpopoint guard din ako eh. I like the way he plays the point guard position.”
For their upcoming title defense, Bolick sees the hard-pressing Lyceum Pirates as one of their top threats. That is why the San Beda senior is slowly trying to integrate facets of Nieto’s game into his.
“Idol na idol ko siya — kung paano niya i-handle yung bola, paano siya magbaba kasi Lyceum nga ‘di ba trap pero hindi mo mata-trap si Matt eh. Magaling siya,” added Bolick.
“Ninanakaw ko yung konting galaw niya.”
But before anything else, he has to try and stop Nieto first.
