S73 Autopsy: FEU Tamaraws

Outgoing Players
- Reil Cervantes (10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists) (forgoing his fifth year to enter the PBA Draft)
- Paul Sanga (5.3 points, 28.57 3P%, 2.8 rebounds)
- Anjoe Latonio (demoted to Team B)
- Christian Manalo (demoted to Team B)

Win/Loss Records
- Season 73: 12-2 (1st, lost in the Finals to ADMU)
- Season 72: 11-3 (2nd, lost in the Final Four to UE)
- Season 71: 10-4 (3rd, lost in the Final Four to DLSU)

Key Stats
- First in field goals made per game (27.29) and in turnovers per game (13)
- First in starter points per game (45.0) and total points scored per game (73.24)
- Last in opponents' forced turnovers per game (12.94)
- Last in opponent's allowed free throw percentage (67.57 percent)

FilOil This Week: 042511 to 050111

April 25 (Monday)
8:30am - RP Youth U13 vs Letran (Jrs)
11:15am - Mapua/Malayan vs FEU-FERN (Jrs)
12pm - Ateneo vs Arellano (Jrs)

1:45pm - UP vs FEU (Srs)

3:30pm - San Beda vs Lyceum (Srs)

5:15pm - Arellano vs De La Salle (Srs)

April 27 (Wednesday)
9am - EAC vs NU (Jrs)
10:45am - JRU vs UE (Jrs)
12:30pm - Adamson vs UE (Srs)
2:15pm - Lyceum vs Ateneo (Srs)
4pm - De La Salle vs SSCR (Srs)

April 29 (Friday)
9am - San Beda vs Adamson (Jrs)
10:45am - UST vs UPHSD (Jrs)
12:30pm - Arellano vs NU (Srs)
2:15pm - Adamson vs UP (Srs)
4pm - FEU vs Mapua (Srs)

April 30 (Saturday)
10am -  Ateneo  vs RP Youth U16 (Jrs)
11:45am - UE vs EAC (Srs)
1:30pm - JRU vs Letran (Srs)
3:15pm - Ateneo vs UST (Srs)

Next, next week - SSCR vs NU, UE vs FEU, Ateneo vs NU

Lawrence Chongson's Got PEx

As pointed out by the local sports blog Fire Quinito and alluded to by myself on Twitter, former UE Red Warriors coach Lawrence Chongson has taken to posting at the UE Red Warriors III thread over at the Pinoy Exchange UAAP forums, and the result has been quite enlightening.

Fire Quinito has already gone and highlighted the passages involving Chongson's dismissal, the shrinking role of Bong Tan in Red Warriors management, and Paul Lee's non-inclusion in Team Gilas, but there's other juicy bits in there including:

• Chongson downplaying Rene Baena's role in the upswing of UE's fortunes in Round 2 last season
• Saying that he preferred Ponso Gotladera over Chris Javier
• A list of recruits that he had in the pipeline from abroad
• Roi Sumang's academic saga
• UE letting go of some of his recruits and him bringing them over to NU, including Henri Betayene
• Squelching the possibility of Paul Lee returning to UE to play
• My personal favorite, the chance that he could have been FEU's head coach for S74

DLSU Wins in Dubai, Scorches Ateneo

Photo by Mike Malata, ABS-CBN News (source)

According to various reports, the De La Salle Green Archers were able to hold on for the win against their arch-rivals, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, in an exhibition game held in Dubai, last Friday, April 15, at the Al Ahli Sports Club in Al Ghusais, Dubai.

With the tagline "Down the Wire," the game supposedly began as the exact opposite, as reports from ArcherPride had the Archers nursing a large first quarter lead. By the end of the first half though, Ateneo had managed to get to within four points, 34-30.

With their largest lead at 12 points, the Eagles began aggressively attacking the defense of the green-shirts (the blue side of the story) or the refs decided to start making the game more interesting (the green side of the story), as the zebras whistled La Salle for 13 fouls, to just three for Ateneo in the quarter. Despite this though, La Salle still led, 50-44, after three periods. In the end, DLSU got the win, 62-58.

Unfortunately, the final score is still in doubt, but we do know that La Salle was able to maintain its stranglehold on the lead. As you can see below, the unofficial box score has it at 61-58, La Salle, but the actual summation of the scores has it at 63-58. Chris Soler of Inboundpass.com tweeted the score as 62-58, and this seems to be the accepted number.

Sam Marata and Joshua Webb of the Archers did not make the trip, while Ateneo played without Greg Slaughter (in addition to the four players who are currently not with the summer team).

Kiefer Ravena scored just 6 points in his first collegiate game against La Salle, and tweeted after the game, "Lack luster [sic] performance by number 15"

Quoth ABS-CBN News:

"Without a trace of jetlag, La Salle opened the game with a 16-3 run in the first 6 minutes of the game and ended the first quarter with a 10-point advantage over Ateneo, 21-11.
The ensuing second quarter saw an exchange of baskets from both teams but La Salle still managed to take control of the game and had a 4-point advantage, 34-30, at the close of first half.

Finding their shooting range, Ateneo went full throttle after the half time break and briefly enjoyed the driver’s seat via a 3-point shot by Bacon Austria which gave the Blue Eagles a 1-point advantage, 41-40, with 3:30 left in the third.

After the first deadlock at 44-all, Yutien Andrada and Almond Vosotros initiated a 6-0 run that gave back the lead to the Green Archers, 50-44, going into the final quarter.
Kirk Long’s drive to the basket with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter put the match into another deadlock at 54-all but the Blue Eagles went cold going into the final minutes of the game as Vosotros, the Green Archer who hails from Albay, answered with 6 consecutive points."

Hopefully news outlets will write a more detailed account of the game so that we have a better idea of both teams performed.

Unofficial box scores (courtesy of user 1983 on ArcherPride):

Box scores courtesy of the Phil. Star:

DLSU 62: Vosotros 14, Torres 9, Mendoza 9, Atkins 9, Dela Paz 5, Revilla 4, Villanueva 3, Andrada 3, Van Opstal 2, Tampus 2, Gotladera 2

Ateneo 58: Salva 25, Monfort 7, Ravena 6, Tiongson 5, Austria 4, Chua 4, Gonzaga 3, Long 2, Erram 2

FilOil This Week: 041111 to 041711

April 13 (Wednesday)
9am - RP Youth U13 vs NU (Jrs)
10:45am - Letran vs SSCR (Jrs)

12:30pm - EAC vs Letran (Srs)

2:15pm - San Beda vs Arellano (Srs)

4pm - NU vs UST (Srs)

April 15 (Friday)
9am - Adamson vs JRU (Jrs)
10:45am - UE vs UPHSD (Jrs)
12:30pm - Mapua vs CSB (Srs)
2:15pm - UP vs Letran (Srs)
4pm - UE vs JRU (Srs)

April 16 (Saturday)
10am - San Beda vs UST (Jrs)
11:45am - UST vs SSCR (Srs)
1:30pm - FEU vs Adamson (Srs)
3:15pm - NU vs San Beda (Srs)

Next, next week - DLSU vs SSCR, FEU vs Mapua, ADMU vs UST

A Phenomenal Debut

Summer Starts Well for ADMU

In their first game of the summer season, a match against St. Clare College of Caloocan in the Fr. Martin's Summer Cup, the Blue Eagles got up and running, leaving their opponent in the dust.

When one thinks of Ateneo, defense and size are two factors that immediately come to mind as the reasons for the Blue Eagles' success these past couple of seasons. An underrated reason for their winning though, has to be their fast break offense, and that was in full display today, as the Eagles zoomed to a 102-60 victory.

Starting Frank Golla, Nico Salva, Kirk Long, Kiefer Ravena and Eman Monfort, the Eagles made the extra passes to find wide open guys and ran the break to perfection. From that point on, it was just a matter of divvying up the minutes to make sure everyone got to play.

RANDOM NOTES:
- Kiefer seems to have grown taller, to the point where I would wager him as a legit 6'0. He scored 11 on a variety of ways in the third quarter that got the crowd "ooooh-ing" and "ahhhh-ing." Ateneo is blessed to have him.
- Salva seems a touch more athletic, attacking the rim, while still nailing that mid-rang jumper.
- Gonzaga is an early lock for "most improved player." He will dog the other side's best player from end to end AND knock down triples with ease. Toss in the fact that we can bring him, Bacon and Pessumal off the bench, and Ateneo's second unit can put the stranglehold on opposing teams.
- Erram has added even more muscle, and when the team was going to him in the fourth, he responded well with 14 in that period. Another big that's gotten better is Chua, who showed a wider array of post moves.
- Tallo's offense wasn't quite here yet, but his ball handling and floor vision was. And did I mention Ateneo is going to run a whole lot more? 

SCORES:
Ravena - 17, Chua - 16, Erram - 16, Gonzaga - 14, Salva - 14, Long - 6, Monfort - 6, Capacio - 5, Pessumal - 3, Tallo - 3, Austria - 2, Tiongson - 0

SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER NOTES:
- Don't expect Ryan Buenafe, Jeric Estrada, Art Dela Cruz and Chris De Chavez to make summer league appearances, due to a variety of issues, mostly grades. Because of that, the Blue Eagles have elevated 6'4", long-limbed Paul Siarot to the Team A roster. 

S73 Autopsy: ADU Soaring Falcons

Outgoing Players
- Michael Galinato (2.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists)
- William Stinnett (3.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists)

Win/Loss Records
- Season 73: 9-5 (3rd, lost in the Final Four to Ateneo De Manila University)
- Season 72: 5-9 (5th)
- Season 71: 3-11 (7nd)

Key Stats
- First in the league in steals (7.2) and turnovers forced per game (19.8)
- First in the league in opponents' field goal attempts (56.67) and three point field goal attempts allowed per game (17)
- First in the league in opponents' offensive rebounds allowed per game (10.33)
- Last in the league in opponents' three point percentage (33.73)

Fr. Martin Summer Cup - NU vs MIT (April 5, 2011)

Either I jinx NU whenever I watch their game live, the summer doldrums are in, or NU just isn't that good.

I caught the Bulldogs again yesterday, this time in the Fr. Martin Summer Cup, playing against the Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals. Going in, I was curious to see how NU would play against the very tall line-up, highlighted by Yousef Taha. If you remember, versus an import-less JRU Bombers squad, the Bulldogs were outhustled and ultimately done in by a zone after holding a double digit lead.

Same song here.

In the fourth quarter, with a 13-point lead, the Cards managed to go on a sustained run to lead by 6 with two minutes and change to go. From then on out, it became a fight to see who could execute better, the Bulldogs from the field, or the Cardinals from the line. With seconds to go, and the lead down to 3, Parks missed an off-balance triple and Mapua emerged victorious, 69-66

Random Observations:
- Great center battle between Emmanuel Mbe and Taha, with Taha the overwhelming victor. In one memorable sequence, Taha enveloped Mbe in the post and the Bulldog couldn't get a shot off or a pass out, turning it over ultimately. Taha's hustle was superb, and when you got a big man diving for the ball, things can't get much better.
- Mbe on the other hand, was sub-par yet again. He was receiving the ball way too far out in the post, and often times facing the basket. Subsequently, he seemed to settle too much for jumpers.
- Ray Ray Parks was amazing for stretches again, but when he sat in the fourth, that was when Mapua uncorked their huge run. He can score in a hurry though and unlike a lot of collegiate players, will try to fish for a foul instead of settling for jumpers.
- What's Kyle Neypes role on this team? He seems to just float around a whole lot, without getting involved in the offense. The one time he gets a shot off, from a nice pick and roll play with Parks, he babies the lay-up.
- Wasn't impressed with any of the point guards' play. Terso seemed to defer too much to Parks, Labing-isa barely got any burn, and Alolino tried to force passes that weren't there.
- Lots of pressure on this squad to make it to the Final Four.

S73 Autopsy: DLSU Green Archers

Outgoing Players
- Ferdinand (2 points, 2.2 rebounds) (it is presumed that Ferdinand will not be returning for his fifth year)
- Gab Banal (2.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.4 steals) (transferred to MIT)
- Joel Tolentino (4.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.7 steals) (transferred to CSB)

Win/Loss Records
- Season 73: 8-6 (4th, lost in the Final Four to FEU)
- Season 72: 5-9 (6th)
- Season 71: 10-4 (2nd, lost in the Finals to Ateneo de Manila University)

Key Stats
- First in the league in field goals attempted per game (68) and free throws attempted per game (22.8)
- First in the league in offensive rebounds per game (15.4) and total rebounds per game (42.33)
- First in the league in bench points per game (38.73)
- Last in the league in fouls given up per game (20.53), opponents' free throws made per game (14.27) and opponents' free throws attempted per game (22.4)
- Last in the league in starter points per game (31.07)

S73 Autopsy: NU Bulldogs

Outgoing Players
- Kokoy Hermosisima (10.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 27.91 3PT%)
- Jewel Ponferrada (8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.1 blocks)
- Melvin Baloran (6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.6 steals)
- Jerome Tungcol (1.2 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1 assist)
- John Ludovice (0.9 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals) (transferred to SBC)


Win/Loss Records
- Season 73: 7-7 (5th)
- Season 72: 3-11 (7th)
- Season 71: 2-12 (8th)

Key Stats
- First in the league in fouls given up per game (13.27 fouls/game) and free throw attempts allowed per game (11.71 attempts/game)
- First in the league in opponent's defensive rebounds allowed per game (19.93) and total rebounds allowed per game (33.86)  
- Last in the league in field goals made (21.79) and three-point field goals made (3.86) per game, while being last in attempts in both categories (53.43 and 14.5, respectively) as well
- Last in the league in offensive rebounds (11.64), assists (11.43), steals (3.71) and turnovers (21.93) per game
- Last in the league in opponent's field goal attempts allowed per game (67.64)