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Norman Black firmly believes that Ryan Buenafe should have been a star in the PBA today.
The former chief tactician for Athenaeum said this during his talk at the Hoop Coaches International webinar on Friday when asked who might be the players that will make up his five all-time blue eagles.
And Buenafe is his bet on the small forward position, as Black said he was the most talented he has ever trained.
“There is no doubt that the most talented guy was Ryan Buenafe that I trained” Black said.
“Ryan should be in the PBA right now, he should be a star if he could control his weight.”
It would be recalled that Buenafe was selected by Alaska with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 Draft, and his contract with the Aces included a body fat clause to address his weight issues.
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He was chosen in the first round after being projected as a second assailant: Buenafe was chosen ahead of his fellow Blue Eagles, Nico Salva and Justin Chua, who were more rookies then.
Buenafe was considered to be one of the pillars of the Aces for the future, but his period there did not last long. In 2014, he joined the Meralco Bolts, where he reunited with Black, and was there until 2016.
Since then, Buenafe had periods in both the PBA D-League and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
His professional career may not have worked as expected, but there is no denying how good he was at Athenaeum, where he won four of the five consecutive Blue Eagles championships.
Buenafe was the most valuable player in the 2010 Title Finals, which was just when his three-point dagger with 22.1 seconds left in Game 2 against FEU ensured Athenaeus’ triple inning.
“He took us to four championships and he had a lot of talents.” Black recalled the 6-foot-3-inch Buenafe.
Black was the architect of that five mob, so most of the players he mentioned to his Blue Eagles squad of all time were part of that historic achievement.
But it was a challenge for him to name players since he had trained many good ones. For Black, it’s a jolt at the center point between UAAPS Season 71 MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Greg Slaughter.
Al-Hussaini was part of the first two Athenaeum championships, while the 7-foot Slaughter, who transferred to Athenaeum from Christian University in the Philippines, was there in the past two title races.
“In the central position, obviously the most successful was Rabeh Al-Hussaini. He had a couple of years where it was just great, particularly the year he won the MVP award,Black said.
“He was a very dominant player for us.” added.
“At the same time, you must remember that I also trained Greg Slaughter. So that’s a shakeup when it comes to the center position between the two. “
Black also found it difficult to name his striker, as he also had Japeth Aguilar in mind, but he gave the place to Noy Baclao, Al-Hussaini’s teammate who was the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 Finals.
Remember Japeth Aguilar, I also trained him at Athenaeum before he left for western Kentucky. He was a young boy then, but he was a very good player for us, great shot blocker, great rebounder.
“But I would say that Noy Baclao was the best defender in that position for us.” Black explained. “It is also part of Meralco now, so hopefully it will be well soon in late Juneme.”
But if it was difficult for him to name his frontcourt players, it was much easier for Black to name his backcourt.
His double guard is Chris Tiu, the main man on the Blue Eagles team in 2008, which was his last year.
“I would have to go with Chris mainly because the girls love him. It was crazy.
“It was the Eagle King,He advanced. “He was the best player on the team that year, he was the player we went to in the clutch in almost every game, but he was also very popular. “
However, Black’s point guard wasn’t part of any of his championship teams, but he’s totally understandable, and deserves less explanation or anything else, why he chose him: LA Tenorio.
Black had the opportunity to train the floor general when he took over the reins of Athenaeum in 2005.
“I had a lot of good bases in Ateneo when I was training there. But my best point guard was LA Tenorio” he said. “He is still by far the best starter pin I’ve ever had as a player.
“Although I didn’t win a championship with Los Angeles, he basically led our team.”
And having completed all five, Black added two-time UAAP MVP Kiefer Ravena to his fantasy team.
Coming out of the Blue Eagles, Ravenna’s first two years with the senior team resulted in two titles, and Black said they wouldn’t have won those crowns if it hadn’t been for the second-generation star.
“Don’t forget me about a boy. Kiefer Ravena. We got Kiefer at some point because he was part of the last two championship teams,“Black recalled, who left Ateneo in 2013.
“I don’t want to forget him too, because I don’t think we would have won those last two championships without him,“Added the multi-decorated mentor.
“So I don’t want to forget Kiefer.”
