One Day Later: FEU vs UP, ADU vs NU

"It slipped out of our hands" "And the Tams were there to take it" (pic source)

FEU 59 - UP 53
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Player of the Game : RR Garcia showed that he hasn't forgotten how to take over games, unloading 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, to overcome a 16-point UP lead. After three quarters of having the ball taken away from his hands by UP's box and one defense, FEU head coach Bert Flores turned control of the team over to him in the final period, and Garcia delivered an ace performance, getting by everything the Maroons threw at him.

FEU Positives :

• When the chips were down, FEU decided to stop puttering around and getting the other guys involved. opting instead for more RR Garcia, and more Aldrech Ramos. The decision paid off, with Ramos breaking an FEU scoring drought in the second period, and Garcia taking over late. 
• After melting down in three straight fourth quarters, the Tams held tight this time and reversed that trend, going 9 of 18 in the final period, while holding UP to just 2 of 13 shooting.

FEU Negatives :

• Can Aldrech Ramos be a dependable go-to guy? Sure he scored six straight and made an assist in the second quarter to staunch the FEU bleeding, but he then made no attempts in the third, and made just 1 of 6 in the last quarter, finishing with 4 of 14 shooting. Sure he pulled down 14 rebounds and made four assists, but this team desperately needs scoring, and it's sad to think that this five-year vet was shut down by rookie Paolo Romero
• Speaking of weird numbers of attempts, RR Garcia had just one attempt in the second period, a triple that Chris Exciminiano turned into their last score before a severe scoring drought, yet he was on the court for nine minutes. Overall, in that period, FEU was 5 of 17 from the field, with Ramos 3 for 7. 
• This is the third time all season FEU has shot single-digit free throw attempts. They were 6 of 8 today and have gone 6 of 9 (Round 1 vs ADMU) and 5 of 7 (Round 1 vs NU) before.

UP Positives :

• The Maroons' defense in the second and third quarters was exceptional, holding FEU to just 20 points on 9 of 30 shooting. That was actually UP's best defensive two-quarter stretch all season.
• Rookie Paolo Romero had a big outing, leading the Maroons with 17 points on 8 of 12 shooting, while hauling down six rebounds.

UP Negatives :

• Once again, UP's three-point shooting was atrocious, finishing 6 of 29 from beyond the arc. Amazingly, both Mike Silungan and Mike Gamboa took 11 three-point attempts each and both made just two treys each as well.  Meanwhile, Jett Manuel, the only other meaningful three-point shooter, was 2 for 5. 
• UP hit season-lows in terms of free throws, in both attempts and makes, going 3 for 5 from the line. The only other time they got charities in single digits was versus UE in the opening game, when they tallied 7 conversions on 9 attempts.
• Other lows: UP's five point fourth quarter output matched their season-low output in a quarter (they also had five versus UST in the second period), while their six fastbreak points and four turnover points were records for the season.

Spread the wealth - The Falcons played 5 vs 1 and won (pic source)

ADU 68 - NU 53
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Player of the Game : With his jump shot inconsistent at best (1 of 10 from within the arc), Alex Nuyles still had a profound impact on the game, scoring 13 points, making all three of his triple tries, getting three rebounds and dishing out five assists.

ADU Positives :

• Even without Jan Colina, and in spite of a poor showing by Lester Alvarez, the Falcons still got out to a 20-10 start and went into cruise control after, scoring just enough to always stay ahead of the Bulldogs, holding them to 36.1 percent shooting, while forcing them into missing all eight of their triple attempts.
• Varied scoring was the key, with four players in double digits, and one with nine points. The Falcons looked for the open man and it showed as they tallied 18 assists, three times what NU produced.

ADU Negatives :

• The Falcons took their foot off the gas pedal in the third quarter, allowing the Bulldogs to claw back with a 10-run that cut the deficit to seven before Alex Nuyles and Jerick Canada teamed up to reestablish the double-digit lead. 
• How jump-shot reliant can the Falcons be? Adamson tallied just six free throws in this game, a season-low and the first time they got just single digits in that category. Also, the mid-range game was off today for Nuyles and Eric Camson, as the two forwards finished 4 of 20 in the game.

NU Positives :

• Bobby Ray Parks had a pretty efficient game, scoring 31 points in 32 minutes, while going 12 for 19 from the field and 7 of 8 from the line.

NU Negatives :

•  Players on NU's team not named Bobby Ray Parks went 10 for 42 from the field, 2 of 4 from the stripe. Chief among them? Emmanuel Mbe, whom I don't think tried hitting a shot farther than eight feet. And yet, he finished just 3 of 13 from the field. All in all, no other non-Parks player scored more than six points in this game.
• If you're going to be a one-man team, the least you can do is support the guy on defense, so asnot to waste all the points he scores. Instead, the Bulldogs kept allowing the Falcons to trade baskets with them. Eventually, when AdU started hitting triples, the two sides were still trading, but with Adamson coming out on top.
• Ultimately, this falls on the coaching staff as well, as they didn't try to get other players involved late. How come Jeoffrey Javillonar, Jul-Ashri Ignacio and Denice Villamore get just two looks from beyond the arc? Why didn't Cedrick Labing-isa get any burn when it became clear that Gelo Alolino couldn't catch fire? After all of Mbe's misses, why didn't NU run a play to get him to the line?

UAAP Picking Record:  26-8