PCCL 2011 - DLSU vs UST

Three Up

• So why was Joshua Webb benched last UAAP season? The most senior member of the Green Archers team, now that Simon Atkins and Maui Villanueva have graduated, finished with 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting, and has averaged 13.75 points in DLSU's four PCCL games so far. Webb can't quite create for himself, but he's lethal in transition, and when cutting baseline, so as long as the point guards are getting him involved, he's a legit threat.
• DLSU's offense in the PCCL and in the last UAAP is like comparing night and day. There's simply more fluidity and better ball movement, as seen in their 19-11 edge in assists. Their zone offense, the team's Achilles heel in Season 74, has improved by leaps and bounds, with more ball rotation and less standing around and then taking a contested jumper. 
• Kim Lo personified the hustle of UST that kept them in this game throughout the 40 minutes. Lo's adjustment from high school big man to college wing has been bumpy, but he put up 9 points on 3 of 5 shooting, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in this game in a 20 minute stint. Those are similar figures to what he produced the only time last season he was given more than 20 minutes of playing time.

Three Down

• Kevin Ferrer carried the Tigers with 23 points on 7 of 16 shooting, but it was a tale of two halves. In the game's first 20 minutes, Ferrer was on fire: 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting. That dropped to 7 points on 2 of 6 attempts as DLSU began crowding him every time he touched the ball, taking away the open catch and shoot looks he was getting early on. One thing he definitely needs to start learning how to do is posting up smaller defenders. It's the reason why Ateneo can get away with sticking Kiefer Ravena on him, and in this game, guys like Luigi Dela Paz and Joseph Marata were able to frustrate him into going back out to the perimeter. 
• At one point, a frustrated UST head coach Pido Jarencio turned to his coaching staff and said, "Masyado atang nag-gigimick itong si Karim." Abdul was horribly off in this game: 5 points in 19 minutes on 1 of 7 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers, and multiple attempts being rejected by Papot Paredes and Norbert Torres. Most egregious was the way he got his fourth foul: needlessly overhedging on a screen with seconds remaining in the game while in the penalty, allowing Jarelan Tampus to hit two free throws and make their lead 10, going into the fourth quarter. 
• The Archers lose the services of sharpshooter Luigi Dela Paz after he fell hard on his right arm in the third quarter. Though it looked like he landed on his wrist, later examinations revealed it to be a fractured elbow that will keep him off the court until January. They'll need Marata, who only played his first game with the team yesterday due to PBA-DL commitments, to fill in the void. 

Random Notes

• Louie Vigil, still missing point-blank open layups. 
• Jovet Mendoza has three unsportsmanlike fouls in the Archers' four games (two in the first game, resulting in his ejection), but he easily could have gotten number four in this game, thanks to his errant elbows. 
• Unfortunately, the big man for DLSU who could most use more playing time to refine his game, Arnold Van Opstal, is out with a knee injury, explaining his presence in the audience, watching the games.

PCCL 2011 - DLSU vs UST