One Day Later: UST vs UE, ADMU vs DLSU

UST 54 - UE 45
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Player of the Game : Just like Ateneo won on the back of Greg Slaughter, so too did the UST Growling Tigers win on the back of Karim Abdul, as their 6'5" big man dominated the UE frontline to the tune of 16 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. On both sides of the court, Abdul gave the Red Warriors headaches as they had no one who could match-up with him, and that allowed his teammates to get open looks at the rim.

UST Positives :

• Chris Camus excels in this sort of back and forth, freewheeling affair, tallying six points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. His combination of speed, height and length bothered a lot of the jump-shooting UE bigs, preventing them from getting off clean looks. 
• Tight defense by the Growling Tigers allowed them to hold the Red Warriors to just half of their first half output, allowing just 15 points over the third and fourth quarters, as UE shot a measly 5 of 31. 

UST Negatives :

• Louie Vigil's inability to make a layup had head coach Pido Jarencio nearly falling to the floor in disbelief. Guarded on a fastbreak, Vigil understandably missed the first, but he got his own miss when his UE defender flew by him, giving him a wide open look. He missed that too, to the groans of the UST crowd.
• Coming into the game as the number one rebounding team in the league, the Tigers found themselves outmatched on the boards in the first half, conceding eight more boards. They managed to rally in the second half though, knotting the number of boards at 49 each. 

UE Positives :

• The Red Warriors got a huge lift from bench players BJ Zosa (seven points, six rebounds, two assists in 10 minutes) and RR De Leon (five points, six rebounds in 14 minutes) as the two players carried UE in the second quarter to a 30-24 lead at the break.

UE Negatives :

• Everyone has to miss sometime, and that's certainly what happened in this game. After providing some sweet shooting versus La Salle and Ateneo, both Paul Zamar and JM Noble regressed to the mean, shooting 2/5 and 1/9 respectively, as they couldn't provide the offensive spark the Red Warriors needed desperately.
• UST is not a team know for forcing turnovers, so that means the Red Warriors somehow committed 16 first half turnovers on their own volition, before finishing with 25. That led to 19 turnover points by the Tigers, a huge advantage in such a low-scoring game.
• Related to that, UE had just five turnover points, compared to the 19 of UST. Similarly, they also finished with a whopping zero fastbreak points, while the Growling Tigers tallied 17. It was just the second time this season a team finished with nothing in that category (ADU was the first, versus DLSU in the second round)
• UE drew just six trips to the free throw line, all coming in the second half as the Tigers had no need to foul the jump-shot happy team.

Sunday Salva-tion - with all the focus on Greg Slaughter, Nico Salva made La Salle pay (pic source)

ADMU 79 - DLSU 62
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Player of the Game : Tonino Gonzaga came off the bench and gave the Blue Eagles a huge shot in the arm. Defensively, Gonzaga smothered a host of DLSU guards, from Jarelan Tampus to Almond Vosotros, LA Revilla, and Luigi Dela Paz, preventing them from mounting a comeback attempt. Offensively, Gonzaga was an inside-outside threat, knocking down two triples and slashing to the rim in transition. The fourth year super sub tallied 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals overall, and was one of four Eagles who finished in double-digit scoring.

ADMU Positives :

• The Blue Eagles showed off their depth by staying out ahead even without Greg Slaughter, who went down with foul trouble four minutes into the first period, and then sat out the rest of the first half. At halftime, they were up 31-26, and the lead only grew from that point onwards, with Slaughter's return.
• Ateneo simply outclassed La Salle, beating them out in a variety of categories. The only stats that had La Salle ahead were two-point percentage (48.15 percent for Ateneo versus 50 percent for La Salle) and perimeter points (15 for ADMU and 16 for DLSU).
• Nico Salva bounced back from a horrible encounter versus UE to lead the Eagles with 19 points on 9 of 18 shooting, just one of four Ateneans that finished in double-digits scoring.

ADMU Negatives :

• We didn't get another Gwynne Capacio versus La Salle moment. 

DLSU Positives :

• Taking advantage of Greg Slaughter's reluctance to foul, Arnold Van Opstal led the Archers with 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting.
• Well the Archers played well in the first half with Slaughter out, down just five points. 

DLSU Negatives :

• The rotation of head coach Dindo Pumaren continues to frustrate green shirts everywhere, as he pulls his best scorers from the floor, moments after they've begun to heat up, while his constant shuffling prevents those already on the floor from finding a rhythm. In particular, Jarelan Tampus and Almond Vosotros should have had more time on the floor, but he instead gave guys like Simon Atkins and Joseph Marata the nod despite their obvious struggles. 
• La Salle tried many different variations of the press, throwing out the 2-2-1 zone that UE used on them two defeats ago. Ateneo easily broke them all though, sometimes even just driving into the heart of the press and shrugging it off, as guys like Bacon Austria, Emman Monfort and Kirk Long had an easy time getting the ball across the halfcourt line.
• Once again free throws were a huge problem for La Salle. Both teams had 22 charities, but Ateneo converted 18 of them, while La Salle hit just 10. 
• La Salle continues to cannibalize their more veteran players, as they simply could not produce anything. Maui Villanueva, Joshua Webb, Simon Atkins and Jovet Mendoza, DLSU's oldest tenured players, managed just 12 points between them. 

UAAP Picking Record: 33-11