FilOil: DLSU's option play leads to Jeron Teng's game-tying triple

The situation: June 2, the final day of the elimination round of the 2012 FilOil Flying V Pre-season Tournament. DLSU is trailing ADMU by 3, 53-50, with 18.8 seconds to go.

DLSU has Almond Vosotros (17) inbounding the ball, with Norbert Torres (6), Yutien Andrada (20), Jeron Teng (24) and LA Revilla (12).

ADMU counters with Oping Sumalinog (17), JP Erram (10), Nico Salva (8), Kiefer Ravena (15) and Juami Tiongson (5).

FilOil 2012 - April 18 box scores

The box scores for AdU vs LPU, JRU vs EAC and SBC vs UST, under the cut

Updated to include ADMU vs UPHSD

FilOil Random Thoughts - Gameday April 18, 2012

In addition to this blog post, I also wrote the primer for GMA News Online. Give it a read why don't you? And then come back here.

LPU Pirates vs ADU Soaring Falcons

• Lyceum lost all seven of their games in last season's Fil-Oil, but rebounded nicely in the actual NCAA as a guest team. It will be interesting to see if head coach Bonnie Tan will be out to win or if he's going to be more focused on testing line-ups and working in their new players.
• Speaking of new players, Lyceum has two new centers, Daniel Garcia and Joseph Ambohot. Both though are ridiculously raw, based on what I saw of them in the Fr. Martin Cup. That said, it's unlikely Lyceum will be using them to score, and would rather they focus on rebounding. With Austin Manyara (6.0 rebs in 20.7 mins) and Eric Camson (7.6 rebs in 23.1 mins) standing across the court though, they may be in for a rough day.
• Adamson's point guard position has to worry fans of the Soaring Falcons, as they are going from Jerick Canada and Lester Alvarez to...Ryan Monteclaro. The team is also hoping that Jericho Cruz, who is more of a wingman, can be converted to play the position. 

UPHSD Altas vs ADMU Blue Eagles

• This should be the debut of new head coach Aric del Rosario for the Altas. It'll be interesting to see if he has done anything drastic to their playing style. 
• The Altas should have some added size in foreign center Femi Babayemi and former Junior Alta Eugene Canuza. Would those two be enough to stop the giants on Ateneo, especially Greg Slaughter? 
• I wasn't a big fan of the starting five Ateneo put out versus Letran - Slaughter, Golla, Sumalinog, Ravena, Tiongson. The offense took a while to get going, and it seems like Sumalinog still has not rediscovered his shot. Salva presumably was nursing a minor injury, logging just nine minutes, which is why he didn't start. 
• One thing Letran did that I presume the Altas will try, is to put a big guy with range on Slaughter, and then run plays on offense to free him up on the perimeter, daring Slaughter to chase him out to the arc. The Knights tried that with Junjun Alas, but he was unable to make Ateneo pay for leaving him open, missing all three of his triples. 
• I thought it was clever of acting head coach Sandy A. to pair Buenafe up in the second unit with JP Erram and Tonino Gonzaga. Though the former Finals MVP has lost a lot of weight, he's still not quite in peak condition, but that's negated by Erram and Gonzaga, who are two athletic help defenders who can compensate for Buenafe losing his man.

 JRU Heavy Bombers vs EAC Generals

• JRU relies on generating turnovers for turnover points for a large chunk of their offense. They got the tables turned on them in their debut against NU, as the Bulldogs forced 23 errors and scored 23 points off them. Meanwhile, the Bombers managed to force 16 turnovers, but could only score four points ,as the superior athleticism and speed of the Bulldogs allowed them to catch up and flash some impressive transition defense. 
• While everyone on JRU had a bad outing, of note is the poor performance of John Villarias. The sophomore put up some nice numbers in his rookie year (10.7 points, 4.5 rebs, 2.6 asts, 1.2 stls) but he was a miserable 1-for-8 from the field for just two points in his 19 minutes of play. 
• The EAC Generals might be even more of a perimeter-oriented team than last season, after losing their best post player, Claude Cubo (11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds), to graduation. Their remaining prospects at center don't exactly inspire confidence though. Rafael Sanchez (11.4 mins, 1.5 points, 2.4 rebs in NCAA S87) is the veteran, and they have two rookies in Jeff Mallari and Dominador Pillas, but their best bet might be foreign center Happi Noube, who had averages of 8.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in last year's FilOil tourney. 
• While rosters are still in flux, it's worth noting that EAC did not list two of their main contributors from last season's campaign, Milan Vargas (8.5 points, 4.2 rebs) and Fil-Am Joshua Torralba (10.4 points, 3.6 rebs). Even without them though, they still have the likes of Jan Jamon (13.7 points, led the team in scoring in the NCAA), Remy Morada (5.1 points) and Franz Chiong (4.5 points), shooters will who will benefit from more touches.

SBC Red Lions vs UST Growling Tigers 

• After conceding a 0-6 start to DLSU in their season opener, San Beda bounced right back scoring the first quarter's last 13 points, on route to a big lead, 49-34, headed into the final quarter. But they eased up on the gas a bit too early, allowing the Archers to claw back in the dying minutes, slicing the deficit to four, 67-63 with 16 seconds remaining. 
• The team's surprise package was undersized scorer Ryusei Koga, who poured in eight points in 10 minutes on 4-of-7 shooting. He also chipped in three boards and two assists in limited minutes and so it'd be interesting to see if he can pull off similar production again. 
• The Red Lions struggled on the perimeter, making just 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. Take away Anjo Caram's two late triples, and the rest of the team was a mere 2-of-9, with Julius Armon posting a 1-for-5 clip.
• The Tigers return a mostly intact line-up, but their one loss is a big one, power forward Chris Camus (7.27 points, 7.67 rebs, 1.47 asts, 1.13 stls, 1.53 blks), who was their best defender last season. Guys like Melo Afuang and Karim Abdul will have to do a better job on the boards to compensate for his absence. 
• The return of Clark Bautista and Aljon Mariano will definitely help a bench unit that averaged just 19.27 points last UAAP season. If Louie Vigil and Kim Lo continue to make strides as well, then UST will be a tougher team to tangle with.

FilOil 2012 - April 14 box scores

Box scores for ADMU over CSJL, SBC over DLSU and NU over JRU, under the cut

FilOil Random Thoughts - Gameday April 14, 2012

ADMU vs CSJL

• Ateneo lost three of their four best perimeter defenders to graduation, Kirk Long, Emman Monfort and Bacon Austria. Their ability to stop trigger-happy guards immediately gets tested as they go up against the likes of Mark Cruz, Kevin Alas, and Kevin Racal. Can Juami Tiongson, Kiefer Ravena, Tonino Gonzaga, and new Eagles Kiefer Lim and Nico Elorde pick up the slack?
• That said, Kevin Alas is still questionable for today's game. 

Game Day! Hope I can play! Arriba Letranista!
— Kevin Louie Alas (@kevinlouiealas) April 14, 2012

• The Greg Slaughter (13.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks) - Raymond Almazan (7.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocks) match-up could decide the game. If Slaughter gets into attack mode early and gets Almazan into foul trouble, that opens up the interior for Ateneo's slashers. 
• Another intriguing match-up will be Nico Salva (13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 47.15% FG shooting) against Jam Cortes (12.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 49.48% FG shoting). Salva will drag Cortes to the perimeter, where he's got the advantage, but on the flipside, Cortes can punish Salva by backing him into the post. 
• Ateneo has a hard time with physical defenses, as seen in their struggles against San Sebastian in the PCCL. Letran plays a similar kind of defense, though they do not have an all-around Calvin Abueva type who can stop multiple positions. Time to see if the Eagles have learned from that thrashing. 

SBC vs DLSU

• Player most likely to excel under new head coach Ronnie Magsanoc: Baser Amer (18.5 minutes, 7.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 0.9 steals). Amer had a hard time adjusting to then-head coach Frankie Lim's system, which saw him constantly checking over his shoulder to see what play he needed to run on that specific possession. If Magsanoc is more willing to let Amer get creative and run wild, he could put up near his high school numbers average of 11.7 assists
• Player most likely to excel under new head coach Gee Abanilla: Joshua Webb (9.6 minutes, 3.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists). Last season saw Webb post his worst numbers since his rookie year, as then-head coach Dindo Pumaren buried him on the bench. We saw glimpses of this already in the PCCL, when the Archers turned Webb loose, allowing him to post several double-digit scoring games  (13.75 points through 4 games. When they got knocked out versus Letran, he tellingly only tallied 6 markers). Webb in transition and coming off the weak side is tons better than the catch-and-shoot Webb we saw in Season 74
• The last time these two teams played, San Beda needed a game-winner by Garvo Lanete to come out on top, 70-68.
• No Arnold Van Opstal for La Salle, as he's still nursing an injury. That leaves Norbert Torres, Papot Paredes, Yutien Andrada, Jovet Mendoza and Ponso Gotladera to go up against Ola Adeogun. 

Missing out on filoil due to a torn hamstring. Sorry to the fans and supporters, very unfortunate and ill timed.
— Arnold van Awesome (@Arnoldvanopstal) April 3, 2012

• Intriguing rookie match-up: Julius Armon versus Jeron Teng. Of course, Armon has several years on Teng, plus experience playing in the Fr. Martin Cup, while Teng is fresh from high school, though to his credit, he has played in international competition. Still, Armon is much more of a polished product at this point than Teng that this could get out of hand should they face off one-on-one. 

NU vs JRU

• The last time these two teams played, it was in the PCCL and a Bobby Ray Parks-less NU team fell 66-62 to a complete JRU squad.
• NU's biggest weakness, an average of 19.14 turnovers per game, happens to be JRU's strength, 21.58 turnovers forced for 18.37 turnover points. If the Heavy Bombers defense can disrupt the undersized NU point guards, Cedrick Labing-isa, Robin Rono, Gelo Alolino, and rookie JJ Alejandro, this could be a long game for the Bulldogs
• Intriguing match-up: John Villarias (10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals) versus Bobby Ray Parks (20.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals).

Coach Speak - Norman Black II

This interview was supposed to run in the latest issue of Rebound magazine, but got cut due to lack of space. 

A few hours before Game 1 of the S74 UAAP Finals, I was lucky enough to get to chat with Ateneo head Coach Norman Black. Our conversation lasted about thirty minutes, much more than the five minutes I asked for, but questions beget more questions and Coach Norman is always very gracious. This isn't the entire transcript as I left out some more FEU-specific queries and some SINAG stuff as well.

+++

AD: What aspect of coaching is your favorite? The way you and your staff make adjustments at halftime, it seems to me that you excel at the “chess match” aspect of the game.

NB: I think more than the chess aspect, it’s just being prepared, planning to anticipate. First of all, scouting them [the other teams] and finding out what they’re trying to do and what they’re trying to accomplish, and what plays they’re running offensively and defensively, and making sure your players are prepared for that. Outside of that, there’s also the anticipation of what they might to, what they might come up with.

AD: That came up when you played FEU in the second round right, when you realized that they had gone back to the triangle offense used last season under Glenn Capacio right?

NB: We watched the first game and they used a little bit of the triangle in the first game, but they really used it extensively in the second game. That surprised us a bit, but they’ve been using the triangle since that game pretty consistently, so the only thing for them to do is go back to their old plays again, their flex offense, or come up with new plays.

AD: Coming into the Ateneo job, did you expect to love coaching collegiate ball so much?

NB: I enjoy coaching, period. I could be coaching in grade school and I’d be very, very happy. I could be back in the pros and I’d be very, very happy. I just enjoy coaching. I enjoy mostly taking players, recruiting them, molding them and watching them grow and get better, and as they get better, the team gets better. If you have a team and you don’t improve over the course of the conference, the year, and in the case of some of these guys, over the course of five years, then that’s a bit of a disappointment. Maybe you didn’t get the best out of them and they underachieved. To see them continually get better and improve their game, that’s what coaching is all about because coaching is basically just teaching.

AD: So you could see yourself doing this forever?

NB: Yeah, I’m a coach for life.

AD: Could you see yourself being coach for life at Ateneo?

NB: I have no idea. You know what they say about coaching, you’re hired to be fired. I know I’ll be coaching. Hopefully it’ll be in Ateneo, but if not, I’ll be coaching somewhere.

AD: Could you talk about your graduating veterans a bit?

NB: They’ve been leading the team very well. Everyone understands that since it’s their last year, their last two games, so a lot of our motivation is those three guys.

AD: Is it difficult to see veterans graduate?

NB: You remember when you recruited them, and how time flies. Last year, I couldn’t believe that Eric Salamat was graduating, because it seems like I just recruited him from San Sebastian, [and] all of a sudden, he’s graduating. Same thing with Kirk Long, Bacon Austria and Emman Monfort. You hate to see them go, but you know there are other guys that you’ve also recruited.

You know, the difference between the system of Ateneo and the system of other teams is most of the players that come to Ateneo know they may not become a star immediately. That’s why some of them don’t come to Ateneo. They know they may not become a star immediately. We normally have to recruit guys who are good players, but are willing to wait one, two years for the seniors and the juniors to graduate before their star can start to shine. The disadvantage is they don’t become Rookie of the Year or star players immediately. The advantage is they are on a winning team. They learn a winning tradition and what it takes to become a winner, and how hard you have to work to make it happen. By the time it’s their turn, in their second, third, fourth year, they’re ready to play.

Everyone keeps asking me how come your players don’t play as much as say, some other star players of other teams. Obviously, with winning 13 out of the 14 games, if I was letting my starters play 35 minutes a game, we’d probably have everyone on the Mythical Five team. But we’re all about winning and luckily for me, I’ve been able to convince my players of that, to put winning as a team ahead of individual accomplishments.

PCCL 2011 - Finals Game 2: SSCR vs ADMU

Three Up

• After a nondescript offensive performance in the first Finals game (nine points on 4 of 11 shooting), Ian Sangalang took advantage of an Ateneo frontcourt rotation that saw Greg Slaughter play just 20 minutes, allowing him to pump in 19 points on 50 percent shooting, along with a perfect 5 for 5 stint at the line. This performance was basically what earned him the tournament MVP honors. 
• Jonathan Semira made a surprise reappearance for the Stags, after tearing one of his ACL's in their fourth regular season NCAA game. The bulky guard gave the short-handed Stags a big boost emotionally, but he also was a huge help on the court, with his one make of the game being a clutch triple that doused an Ateneo rally in the fourth quarter, keeping his team ahead. 
• Ateneo head coach Norman Black has quietly done a good job turning trigger-happy guards (Jai Reyes, Emman Monfort) into more than capable floor generals, and his latest project will be third-year player Juami Tiongson. While we will see that play out next season, the exciting part is that Tiongson may be an even better scorer than his two predecessors. In the third quarter, Tiongson singlehandedly kept his team in the game by dropping 11 points in five minutes, hitting 5 out of his 6 attempts, while also dishing out an assist in the process. 

Three Down

• The phrase "pick your poison" has often been used to describe Ateneo's offense, as no team can realistically defend Slaughter, Nico Salva and Kiefer Ravena all at the same time, but in this game, San Sebastian didn't have to pick anything. The big man played just 20 minutes for 10 points, while the UAAP Finals MVP and the UAAP Rookie of the Year combined to go 3 of 25 from the field for 12 points, missing seven triples in the process. 
• Once again, San Sebastian's zone defense stymied Ateneo, keeping in check what is supposed to be a prolific offense. The Eagles wound up attempting 31 triples against the zone, making just eight. For some perspective, Ateneo had never attempted more than 20 in the UAAP. Also, the main disadvantage of the zone is that it makes the defending team have to work harder to get defensive rebounds, but the Stags killed the Eagles on the glass, outworking them 54-33. On the offensive end, Ateneo got only 12 repossessions, versus the 18 of the NCAA runners-up. 
• After doing a reasonably good job of limiting their turnovers (in the Final Four game) and then limiting the amount of turnover points conceded (in the first Finals game), San Sebastian fell back to their old ways, making 22 errors, which led to 22 turnover points by the Eagles. Calvin Abueva of course, led the way with seven of those miscues. 

Random Notes

• San Sebastian became the first NCAA team in the PCCL's existence to win the national championship. In doing so, they prevented what could have been a banner year for the Eagles, as Ateneo had won the Fil-Oil Preseason tournament, the UAAP tournament, and the Unigames crown.
• UAAP teams might want to look at how San Sebastian dominated Ateneo all year long. Combining the Fil-Oil and the PCCL, the Stags are 3-1 against the Eagles in 2011.

PCCL 2011: Finals - SSCR vs ADMU

PCCL 2011 - Finals Game 1: ADMU vs SSCR

Three Up

• UAAP Finals MVP Nico Salva scored four points in the first half, but made up for it with 14 in the second, 10 coming in the third quarter to help Blue Eagles seize and keep the lead. The fourth-year player not only drew defenders like Calvin Abueva and Michael Miranda, and still scored, on the flipside, he also had stretches where he had to guard those two guys, and even some stints versus Ian Sangalang. With the offense stuck in neutral against the zone of Baste, no Salva would have meant an easy ADMU loss.
• After giving up nine unanswered at the start of the fourth quarter, the Ateneo defense managed to shut San Sebastian down when it mattered, allowing just a single point in the final 3:50 of the game. Sure it helped that Calvin Abueva threw himself out of the game with 1:04 left, but even before that incident, Oping Sumalinog seemed to have gotten the handle on "The Beast," resulting in the steal that led to Abueva's last foul. 
• Stags head coach Topex Robinson unveiled his latest defensive wrinkle to stop Ateneo: instructing his players to aggressively play for the steal out of their zone. The ploy worked, and the Eagles coughed the ball up a grand total of 26 times. They had 16 turnovers already by the first half, in the UAAP, Ateneo had six games where they finished with less than that number, which led to 13 of San Sebastian's 23 markers in the 20 minute span. 

Three Down

• Calvin Abueva giveth, and Calvin Abueva taketh away. After missing most of the first half due to what seemed like an early case of cramps, Abueva returned for 11 in 13 second-half minutes, taking over the scoring duties for the Stags. As good as he was though, Abueva also turned the ball over 10 times, four in the final quarter, and none more costly than the one Sumalinog came up with, leading to the ref whistling the NCAA MVP for his fifth. Then on the way off the court, Abueva intentionally bumped that same referee, leading to a technical foul that was charged to his head coach, and free throws that sealed things for Ateneo.
• How effective was San Sebastian's zone? The Eagles could barely get the ball into the post and Greg Slaughter's hands at times, forcing them to rely on lower percentage shots. Coupled with the arm-bar antics of Michael Miranda and Anthony Del Rio (yes, Anthony Del Rio managed to successfully guard Slaughter several times), and the big man was held to just seven points on 3 of 10 shooting. 
• Ateneo had an off-day for them at the foul line, shooting just 13 of 20 from the stripe, including missing a few that could have closed the Stags out earlier, but luckily for them, San Sebastian was even worse, with a 5 for 13 clip. They had managed better than 50 percent in the entire NCAA tournament. 

Random Notes

• As previously mentioned, Ateneo is no stranger to winning two in a row for a PCCL title. They did that against FEU and Adamson in the last two years. 
• Luckily for Abueva, the PCCL has no provisions for suspending players (something they ought to look into for next year), so he'll be able to make up for his antics on Thursday.  

 


PCCL 2011: Finals - ADMU vs SSCR

PCCL 2011 - ADMU vs SBC

Three Up

• After a fourth quarter that produced just a single point, the trio of Greg Slaughter, Nico Salva and Kiefer Ravena made sure that this time, their lead was not going away, dropping 16 of their team's final 21 points. Ravena, the Rookie of the Year in the UAAP, led the charge, scoring eight points in eight minutes, including a sick, mid-air put-back of a Greg Slaughter miss that started a 6-0 blast to finally put San Beda away. 
• Ateneo's big men sometimes forget to play up to their size, but they didn't in this game, scarfing up the caroms like they were going out of style, 37 to 21, 13 to 7 on the offensive glass, for a 14 to 4 advantage in second-chance points. Slaughter and Salva, the starting frontcourt, hauled down eight each, while guards like Tonino Gonzaga and Kirk Long got four a piece, plus an additional five courtesy of reserve big Justin Chua. 
• Sticking Tonino Gonzaga on the primary ball-handler was a stroke of genius by head coach Norman Black, as the shut-down defender harassed the likes of Anjo Caram and Baser Amer to no end. On several possessions, the Red Lions would only get into their set plays with 12 or 10 seconds left on the clock. Resulting in a 24-second violation or rushed shots. Towards the latter part of the game, San Beda was forced to resort to leaving two ball-handlers on the court, just to work around Zags.

Three Down

• San Beda's big men were once again held in check by their larger counterparts. Kyle Pascual was 3 for 5 from the field for six points, along with four boards and two assists, while Dave Marcelo had the unenviable task of trying to guard Greg Slaughter, though on the other end, scored seven, to go with three boards and three dimes. With the offense centered on the San Beda shooters getting free for open looks, it's no wonder the big men vanished from time to time. 
• With the Eagles shooting 0 for 5 from beyond the arc, it's surprising the Red Lions didn't opt to try a zone defense, which is what threw Ateneo off against San Sebastian. Since the first Final Four match against UC, the outside shooting of Ateneo has been sorely lacking (5/23 combined in those two games against NCAA teams).
• The more I see of the Gonzaga/Ravena backcourt, the more I like it. Many assumed that we'd have either Juami Tiongson or Nico Elorde at the point with Ravena at the two-spot, and while we haven't seen Elorde yet, Tiongson has been horrible this entire PCCL. He simply hasn't fully grasped the offense yet it seems, forcing Black to go with either Austria or Long at the point guard spot in crunchtime. 

Random Notes

• When Ateneo plays San Sebastian on Monday, they'll have to beat the Stags twice, if they win on December 12, they'll need one more victory on the 14th to be the PCCL Champs. This isn't the first time they've needed two straight to clinch the crown however. Back in the last two years, when the Finals was a best of three affair, Ateneo dropped the first game of series versus FEU (2009) and Adamson (2010), before bouncing back to raise the trophy. 

 
PCCL 2011: ADMU vs SBC

PCCL 2011 - ADMU vs SSCR

Three Up

• Head coach Topex Robinson came into the game knowing how much Ateneo relied on their fastbreak offense and made sure his troops were prepared to stop it. The San Sebastian Stags allowed just five fastbreak attempts for four transition points, both numbers equal to the Blue Eagles' UAAP Season 74 lows. As a result, they scored just 69 points overall, a far cry from the 100 they put up versus UC. 
• When Ronald Pascual went down with his injury, Anthony Del Rio took over his role of outside sniper, knocking down clutch back to back triples to keep his team ahead of the San Beda Red Lions. In this game however, Del Rio played the role of quarterback to the hilt, playing a game-high 35 minutes and finishing with seven assists. More importantly, the Stags turned it over just 10 times in the game, an amazing stat considering they had never notched less than 13 errors in this past NCAA season.
• Reserve big man JP Erram of Ateneo continues to make his case for more minutes come next year. The 6'7" shotblocker recorded eight points, four rebounds and three blocks in just 15 minutes of play, and did not seem to mind getting into it with the Baste big men. 

Three Down

• Ateneo's troika of scorers, Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena, and Nico Salva were all inconsistent in the game. Each had standout quarters (Slaughter had eight in the first, Ravena six in the second, and Salva nine in the third), but in the key fourth period, the trio combined for just a single point, while going 0 for 8 from the field. 
• Despite having the biggest guy on the court, the Blue Eagles were out-rebounded 41-35, as well as beaten on the offensive glass, 12-7. How did the Stags do it? Of their eight players that got onto the court for at least 10 minutes, all of them pulled down at least two rebounds. 
• While the coaching staff is waiting for a second opinion, it is almost a certainty that Ronald Pascual tore his left ACL completely, meaning he'll be out for an extended period during the off-season. Robinson and company are optimistic he'll be back for the start of the NCAA season (June, seven months away), but that means a lack of preseason, and the additional training he would have received in the PBA-DL.

Random Notes

• By virtue of beating Ateneo and San Beda, and with the Red Lions dispatching UC in the second game of that day, San Sebastian was able to clinch the twice-to-beat advantage in the Finals, with today's game against the Webmasters becoming a non-bearing game.   

PCCL 2011: ADMU vs SSCR

PCCL 2011 - UC vs ADMU

Three Up

• Ateneo's offense was simply astounding, hitting 100 despite not having their starting point guard to run the show. The Eagles shot 59.7 percent from the field, making 40 of 67 shots, while scoring 27 on the break (on 14 attempts) and 20 off 16 University of Cebu errors. They also made it a habit to attack the rim, getting 20 free throws and canning 15, a huge step up from the 3 of 5 line the Webmasters posted. When Ateneo's posting those kind of numbers, they're damn near impossible to stop, with or without a 6'10" big man. 
• Greg Slaughter heard all about the comparisons to Fajardo, and how some have Fajardo as the superior CESAFI-born big man, so the 7-footer decided to put his offensive arsenal on display, scoring 18 points in 21 minutes on a variety of hooks, jumpers, and post up moves. More importantly, with the big man in a groove early (seven points, four rebounds, in eight first quarter minutes) the rest of the Blue Eagles quickly fell in line, resulting in the first quarter storm they pulled off.
• Remember when people used to fear that Kiefer Ravena could not make the transition to point guard? The Phenom dished out eight assists while assuming the one-spot with Emman Monfort balling for NLEX, while still scoring 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Ateneo's wings did a good job of moving the ball around as well with Tonino Gonzaga finishing with 10 points and seven dimes, and Kirk Long tallying seven markers and five assists. All in all, Ateneo had 28 assists, more than doubling UC's 12. 

Three Down

• If you went into this game jazzed about Junemar Fajardo and Slaughter going at it like Godzilla versus King Kong, then you probably went home disappointed. Thanks to his knee injury, Fajardo played just 14 minutes off the bench, though he had 12 points and nine rebounds in that span. "The Kraken" had no lift though, failing to create any offense and relying heavily on his teammates to find him when he was open, and even then he still was off on some of his shots. Without a good performance from Fajardo, the Webmasters will be hard-pressed to win games.
• UC's starting five produced a measly 14 points, eight from Brian Heruela and six from Edward Pao. That's a big step down considering each scored 14 versus SWU in the game for the Southern Islands championship. 
• The confident Juami Tiongson we saw in game two of the UAAP Finals was nowhere to be found in this game. Given major minutes and the chance to strut his stuff, Tiongson looked lost at times, and couldn't get the offense going, which is why the Eagles stumbled out of the gates in the second quarter. 

Random Notes

• In reference to this tweet by Charles Tiu...did you know that 7 feet = 2.13 meters?   
• Ateneo needed Fajardo to get his fourth foul at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go from a 50-43 end of the third quarter lead to a 74-54 final score last year in the PCCL. This time, the blowout came early. 

PCCL 2011: UC vs ADMU

2011 PCCL Final Four Preview

Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles

Pedigree: Winners of the last four UAAP titles, reigning back to back PCCL champions
Players to Watch:  Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena, Nico Salva

Key Points:

• Of all the Manila teams in the Final Four, Ateneo has the fewest PBA-DL players with a conflicting schedule, namely Emman Monfort who is seeing time with the NLEX Road Warriors. Even if he was free, it's entirely possible that the graduating Monfort would have played just a handful of minutes, with head coach Norman Black giving more time to Juami Tiongson, the projected starter next season. 
• The Eagles relied heavily on their starters during the last title run, but the bench was given a lot of quality minutes during the Unigames tourney, as guys like Tonino Gonzaga, JP Erram and Gwynne Capacio got starters' minutes with the starting five and the veteran players unavailable. If they continue to play up to that level, this will be a deadly team.
• By the same token, Ateneo will be the deepest of all the teams in the Final Four, a huge asset given the punishing three games in five days schedule that they'll be playing. Head coach Norman Black has the luxury of switching up his line-up and rotation in every game, should he choose to.

San Beda Red Lions

Pedigree: Back to back NCAA titles, PCCL Elite Eight team last season
Players to Watch: Baser Amer, Dave Marcelo, Jake Pascual, Sudan Daniel

Key Points

• This will be a very fired-up San Beda squad, with axes to grind against Ateneo (due to the transfer of the Semerads) and San Sebastian (the recent volleyball brawl). Coupled with the fact that this team is looking to become the first NCAA titlists of the PCCL, and you have a scary motivated team. 
• The Red Lions have been dominant in the NCAA due to their immense bench depth, but that asset has taken a huge hit, with the Semerads leaving San Beda and Garvo Lanete's shoulder injury, suffered during the SEA Games campaign. Toss in the fact that a handful of players may be unavailable due to PBA-DL commitments (Dave Marcelo with NLEX, Mar Villahermosa and Jake Pascual with Dub Unlimited, and Melo Lim and Rome Dela Rosa with PC Gilmore) and we could in theory see a shorthanded SBC team.
• It's been unclear if Sudan Daniel will suit up for this tournament, after missing the NCAA proper with an ACL injury, but his presence would be a huge lift for this squad. Even if his explosion will be limited, Daniel can be a decent to good post defender, and he provides the necessary height to battle Greg Slaughter and Junmar Fajardo. 

San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags

Pedigree: Metro-Manila/Luzon Regional Bracket winners, PCCL Sweet 16 team last season
Players to Watch: Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual, Ian Sangalang

Key Points:

• The Pinatubo Trio is the best scoring triad in collegiate basketball, and when they're on their game, they're nearly impossible to beat. Versatile enough to thrive in both transition and half-court sets, as well as on defense, a coherent Stags squad is tough to match up with. 
• While Monfort and Marcelo are but complementary pieces on NLEX, the Trio form the core of the D-League squad. Luckily, playing on Monday-Tuesday-Thursday means they'll only miss/arrive late to one game, if anything.
• Conversely, San Sebastian drew the short end of the scheduling stick, playing three games in four days. They could deal with that if they had a deep bench, but they don't, leaning heavily on the Big Three to account for the majority of their production. I wouldn't be surprised if fatigue led to a drop-off in quality play by the time they play University of Cebu. Head coach Topex Robinson might have to gamble by giving his reserves more minutes, but that hasn't worked out well the few times he's tried it against some of the lesser NCAA squads. 

University of Cebu Webmasters

Pedigree: Visayas-Mindanao Regional Bracket winners, PCCL Final Four team last season
Players to Watch: Junmar Fajardo, Luigi Bercede, Brian Heruela

Key Points: 

• The Webmasters entered the Final Four last year of the PCCL by going through several provincial squads. The buzzsaw came to a grinding halt however when they went up against two UAAP teams, dropping assignments to a doughnut of an Ateneo team and falling versus a DLSU team that was still lacking in "trees." In past iterations of the tourney, UC has also fallen to the Letran Knights (led by Dino Daa) and the UE Red Warriors (fronted by Elmer Espiritu and Pari Llagas), so they'll be looking for a breakthrough this time. 
• 6'10" Junmar Fajardo is the name on everyone's lips but a one-man show will not cut it against the other three Final Four teams, especially with the likes of Slaughter and Daniel playing across the court from him. Guys like the aforementioned Bercede and Heruela, as well as Edward Pao, will need to contribute as well. It's interesting to note that Fajardo suffered a knee injury in the Southern Islands Final, though he did come back into the game afterwards. If he's less than 100 percent, Fajardo may not have a choice but to help set up his teammates instead of dominating the ball. 
• Between their three games in four days schedule and "jetlag" (the excuse given by the team for their poor showing last season), we'll need to see if UC can flash some solid play away from Cebu and avoid issues of fatigue. 

PCCL 2011 Final Four Schedule

With the University of Cebu Webmasters defeating the South Western University Cobras 63-58, and the San Sebastian Stags coming back against the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights 83-76, the Final Four cast of the 2011 PCCL is set. ADMU is the UAAP champ, SBC is the NCAA champ, UC is the Visayas/Mindanao champ, and SSC-R is the Luzon/Metro Manila champ.

That gives us the following schedule, with all games to be held at the Arena in San Juan, broadcast live on Studio 23:

Monday 2pm - UC Webmasters vs ADMU Blue Eagles
Monday 4pm - SSCR Golden Stags vs SBC Red Lions

Tuesday 2pm - ADMU Blue Eagles vs SSCR Golden Stags
Tuesday 4pm - SBC Red Lions vs UC Webmasters

Thursday 2pm - FEU Baby Tams vs LSGH Greenies
Thursday 4pm - UC Webmasters vs SSCR Golden Stags

Friday 2pm - NU Bullpups vs SB Red Cubs
Friday 4pm - ADMU Blue Eagles vs SBC Red Lions


The team at the end of the round-robin phase with the highest record gets twice to beat in the Finals versus the team with the next highest record. 

The Indon camera crew for the SINAG games started out horrible (Phil. versus Cambodia was a mess) but has gradually improved to "passable." One horrendous lapse though was showing a highlight while this play was going on in yesterday's match between the Philippines and Thailand:





Unfortunately, Ravena was whistled for a travel on the play, thus the reaction from the coaching staff in the bottom part of your screen.

In case you forgot, he's about 5'10"

Semerads Transfer to Ateneo

File this one under the category: "News that comes out of nowhere." 

Anthony and David Semerad, Fil-Australian twins who played key roles down the stretch of San Beda's recent back to back championship season, have reportedly traded in their Red Lion unis for the blue and white of Ateneo de Manila. 

According to a source close to the Red Lions, the duo left earlier this week and will sit out the remainder of the second academic semester to enroll at Ateneo in March, starting with the summer sem of 2012. 

News of the twins' move took the San Beda coaching staff by surprise, adds the source. 

Anthony Semerad was in and out of the line-up this season, but came on strong towards the tailend. His most memorable game of the season came against San Sebastian in the second round, when he exploded for 10 points in six minutes against the zone of the Golden Stags. Overall, he averaged 6.4 points in 15.7 minutes, while shooting a team-best 39 percent from outside the arc.

David Semerad was San Beda's third-string center, providing additional toughness behind Kyle Pascual and Dave Marcelo, but he strutted his stuff on the largest stage possible: the second game of the NCAA Finals this year, with San Beda already having won the first match. In a defensive grinder of a fourth quarter, David scored seven of his team's nine points, finishing with 15 markers, three rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in 22 minutes. 

In addition to the Semerads, San Beda will lose Dave Marcelo, Garvo Lanete, Mar Villahermosa and Sudan Daniel to either graduation or eligibility. They do however, have a stacked Team B, that features names like Ivan Ludovice (transfer from NU), Art Dela Cruz Jr. (transfer from ADMU), Jaypee Mendoza (former Team A), Fil-Am Julius Armon, and Nigerian Ola Adeogun, plus a champion San Beda Red Cubs team that graduates all but four players. 

One hold-up to the integration of the Semerads to the Blue Eagles is how long the two will have to sit out and serve their residency. 

Normally, a transfer from a non-UAAP team to a UAAP team will have to sit out a year. That means they become eligible in 2013 or Season 76, when the likes of Nico Salva, Justin Chua, Tonino Gonzaga, and Greg Slaughter and Oping Sumalinog, should they return for their last year of eligibility. Having played two seasons in the NCAA, they can play a maximum of three more years before they turn 26. 

The problem though is the fact that the two Semerads played in the inaugural conference of the PBA-Developmental League for the Maynilad team. In the NCAA, this was not a problem because players are allowed to play for a minor league after just one season. The UAAP however requires one to have played at least two seasons before becoming eligible for minor leagues. It thus becomes very possible that the UAAP board might enforce a penalty on the two, such as sitting out an additional year. 

16th PSC-Unigames Basketball Championship

Without their starting five of Greg Slaughter, Kirk Long, Emman Monfort, Kiefer Ravena and Nico Salva, plus reserves Bacon Austria and Oping Sumalinog, a Team-B reinforced Ateneo Blue Eagles team reclaimed the Unigames title, beating the West Negros University Mustangs 76-62 in the Finals.

Should Greg Slaughter decide not to return to play out his final year of eligibility, the strong play of Justin Chua and JP Erram in this tournament are encouraging signs coming out of the five spot. Similarly, Juami Tiongson continued to show that he's capable of taking on the lead point guard role that Monfort will vacate.

Unlike last season, when NU claimed the Unigames crown, no other UAAP team played in the basketball tourney this year.

A Coaching Carousel for the MVP Teams?

Could Norman Black take his magic back to the PBA? (pic source)

Here's what came out in today's Philippine Daily Inquirer, under the headline "Norman Black to Talk 'N Text, Chot Reyes to Smart Gilas five?" :

"Norman Black is set to make a return to the Philippine Basketball Association as a coaching rigodon is expected to be formalized this month involving teams bankrolled by business tycoon-sportsman Manny V. Pangilinan.

The arrangement will include coach Chot Reyes moving over to the Smart Gilas national team from Talk ‘N Text in the PBA.

But there’s a catch.

A source privy to the details of the arrangement told the Inquirer that even after the deal is made official, it will only be put in motion after the 2012 UAAP season.

Black will move to the Talk ‘N Text camp while Reyes will replace Serbian Rajko Toroman, who was offered the consultant’s post at Smart Gilas after serving as its head coach."

That rang a bell in the heads of a few posters in the online community as it sounded awfully familiar to what a certain "jamalsampson" had posted in the Interbasket forums on a thread about the Philippine Under-16 team about a month ago that went something like this:

"there is new talk within the MVP circle that there will be a rigodon of coaches in his backyard. (but they get to steal one coach from the otherside). Its like a wholesale promotion for everybody.

Rajko Toroman might not be re-signed or is to be retained as consultant

Chot Reyes is to assume the Head Coach position and Project Director for the new generation of GILAS whose core would come from the SEA Games bound SINAG.

Norman Black would go back to the PBA and replace Chot Reyes as Talk N Text Coach.

Olsen Racela is to go back to his Alma Mater and become the new Head Coach of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

Getting his opportunity to Coach the U18 National Team is Jamike Jarin.

Ryan Gregorio retains his current positions at MERALCO.

Ronnie Magsanoc moves to San Beda Mendiola as Head Coach.

Frankie Lim retains his position at Maynilad but gets a executive position.

Boyet Fernandez retains his position in NLEX." 

A few thoughts:

1. "Rigodon," a word my MacBook's dictionary does not recognize, is actually a variant of "rigadoon" or "rigaudon," which is "a French baroque dance," according to Wikipedia. Now you know! 
2. I think Coach Toroman did a great job given what he had at the time. It was a bit unrealistic to assume that the Philippines would be able to just return to the forefront of Asian basketball in a blink of an eye. Keeping him establishes continuity and a system, which are both important things if we want to really pursue that Olympic dream
3. If you're going to replace Toroman, doesn't it make more sense to replace him with Coach Black, seeing as how he assembled and will coach the Sinag team for the SEAG aka Gilas V2.0? 
4. Not sure how I feel about Olsen Racela as Ateneo head coach. I haven't seen him coach enough of the RP U-16 team to make an informed decision, but if or when Black moves on, he leaves some pretty big shoes to fill and I don't think Racela, who has coached for less than a year if I'm not mistaken, can even come close to filling them. 
5. Why stop at a five-peat? Because it's one more than Franz Pumaren? If Ateneo keeps winning, then I say keep Black, especially if the door is open to match or even exceed Baby Dalupan's record. 
6. I get the feeling that if Black leaves, so too does Kiefer Ravena. That might just be me though. 
7. Who would I pick to coach Ateneo if Black left? Leo Austria would be at the top of my list, with Jamike Jarin second (should it be Jarin, we would live in a world where the Blue Eagles pressed more than the Green Archers).
8. That said, Jarin deserves a high-profile gig like the RP U-18 team. Plus, if past history is any indication, the combination of Racela currently handling the U-16 and Jarin helming the U-18 means Ateneo will get a huge edge in recruiting the blue chip players that make up those squads.
9. I'm not sure how thrilled San Beda fans would be with Magsanoc at the helm. There has always been a segment of Red Lions fans unsatisfied with Coach Lim, but you have to give credit where it is due, Lim does a masterful job shuffling the minutes of a stacked squad, and has crafted a Team B that could take over for the current Team A with little to no downgrade, save perhaps for a lack of depth. 

Obviously, the first domino to fall will what happens when Toroman's contract expires in November. Until then though, this is a ton of speculation that may not actually result in anything.

UAAP Season 74 Men's Basketball Finals in Photos

Diana Moraleda is one of the super-talented photographers we have on Inboundpass.com and she made a video collage of some of the snaps she took of the UAAP Finals. Definitely worth watching.

UAAP Season 74 Men's Basketball Finals in Photos from diana moraleda on Vimeo.

UAAP S74 Finals Preview: ADMU vs FEU

Credit to original artist, image found on Tumblr

History Lesson:
- Round 1: ADMU 69 - FEU 49
Freethrow attempts: ADMU 28 - FEU 9
Key player: Greg Slaughter, 15 points, 11 rebounds, one block

- Round 2: ADMU 74 - UST 67 (OT)
Overtime scoring: ADMU 11 - FEU 4
Key player: Kiefer Ravena, 15 points, five rebounds, four assists

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Offense
When it comes to putting the ball into the basket, Ateneo is the better team in that regard, scoring five points better on average than FEU, 71 to 66.31. You can attribute that to a lot of things like a higher field goal percentage, but it's mainly due to the aggressive, up-tempo style of play the Eagles espouse. They average five more possessions, about 76 per game, than FEU's 71, getting five more fast break attempts than the Tamaraws, which leads to more transition baskets. Ateneo specializes in getting to the rim, and as a result, the defending champs have a huge advantage over FEU when it comes to free throws, 25 to 15.88.

That's not to say that FEU is a horrible offensive team though. They're certainly a better three-point shooting team, making more triples and at a better rate than the Eagles, who struggle at times to score from downtown. The slower pace of FEU makes them less susceptible to turnovers, though Terrence Romeo may have something to say about that, and despite injuries to their frontline, they score about three more second-chance points per game than Ateneo.

Ultimately, shooting may very well decide this battle. FEU gets about 25.5 of their 66 points per game from the perimeter, and a bad shooting night could ruin them, especially if the Eagles convert long rebounds into fast breaks. Conversely, Ateneo has seen some poor perimeter shooting games as well, especially from downtown, but they have a knack for making them when they really need to, see Kirk Long's two daggers in the first round match-up between these two teams, for example.

EDGE: ADMU 

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Defense
Tough luck FEU, not only is Ateneo better at scoring, they're also better defending, giving up 59.07 points on average, while Far Eastern concedes 65.56 a game. In fact, nearly every defensive statistic favors the Katipunan-based squad, from three-point percentage allowed, field goal percentage allowed, free throws allowed, points in the paint, and perimeter scoring. In fact, the only category where the Tamaraws have an advantage is turnover points given up, where they norm about a point less than their opponents.

Injuries once again are the reason behind this big difference. Without a true small forward, FEU often goes with a three-guard line-up, good for offense, but a liability against certain teams on defense. Similarly, with just two legit big men in Aldrech Ramos and Russel Escoto, the Tamaraws can encounter problems defending the paint, especially against taller teams, not even putting foul trouble into the equation.

EDGE: ADMU

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Marquee Players
Despite an explosive performance from Cris Tolomia in the do or die game versus Adamson University, FEU will live or die based on how well the triumvirate of Aldrech Ramos, RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo perform, and based on past results, things don't bode well for them.

We mentioned above how the Ateneo defense is dominant, and in their two meetings this season, its impact can be clearly seen. Putting together the shooting performances of the two games, Ramos was 5 of 19, Garcia was 14 of 42, and Romeo was 8 of 31. Ateneo's defenders, Kirk Long and Emman Monfort, back-stopped by Tonino Gonzaga and Bacon Austria, simply give the FEU backcourt fits, while Ramos struggles when matched-up against Greg Slaughter, though Nico Salva guards him as well for certain stretches. Ramos' one big advantage is precisely the reason why Salva is often placed on him, an ability to step out beyond the three-point arc and nail some treys. This however, is tempered by the fact that if he misses (he's 7 for 24 for the season), the Eagles get an easy rebound and a chance to run it back at FEU.

Ateneo has some pretty good scorers of their own, with Salva, Slaughter and rookie of the year Kiefer Ravena handling the bulk of the offense when pitted against the Tamaraws. The lack of big men on FEU forces them to double Slaughter, giving Salva the spacing to shoot open mid-range jumpers. Ravena in transition is a monster finisher, and came up clutch against this squad in the second round, forcing overtime on two strong drives to the rim.

EDGE: ADMU

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Supporting Cast
Despite a shaky start to the season, Ateneo's bench has been able to settle down and develop into an excellent complementary unit to what the starters bring to the table. The reserves are led by Tonino Gonzaga, who brings hustle, defense, and the team's best outside shooting to the table, but also worth keeping an eye on is Justin Chua, who scored nine critical points over the third and fourth quarters in round two to keep Ateneo in the game. Should the FEU big men try their hand at hitting jump shots, you can expect Frank Golla and possibly Oping Sumalinog to see some time, as the more mobile big men defenders. Head coach Norman Black may even spring JP Erram again on the Tamaraws, after his shutdown defensive performance in game one of the Finals last season.

The lack of manpower hinders FEU's supporting cast somewhat, but they still have a few names that might tilt the game in their direction. Chris Exciminiano will draw the assignment of covering Ravena, but he played just 14 minutes in the two regular season meetings and was not really able to provide much in the way of scoring, More worrisome might be the chance that Cris Tolomia explodes again, after scoring a career-high 19 versus Adamson. RP Youth Under-18 teammate Kiefer Ravena will likely be the one assigned to make sure that doesn't happen again.  Russel Escoto and Roger Pogoy will provide some additional rebounding as well as the occasional points. The big x-factor for FEU will be the play of Carl Bryan Cruz, who dropped 10 points in round two. Can he accomplish that feat again?

The big concern about the FEU reserves is one of consistency, Yes they've all produced big games in the past, but can they do it again under the scrutiny of the Finals? Ateneo's reserves are more consistent and more importantly, have been here before, something half the FEU names mentioned above cannot say they've done.

EDGE: ADMU 

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Intangibles
While Ateneo head coach Norman Black is of the opinion that UST is the most physical team in the league, FEU has been giving them a run for their money on their road to the Finals, as guys like Pogoy, Cruz, and team captain Jens Knuttel have gotten into it recently with opposing players. Rattling Ateneo is not out of the question for this squad, the problem will be doing it with some of the Tams already nursing unsportsmanlike fouls. Should they get caught, that means a one-game suspension, which would be crippling in this series.

Another trick up FEU's sleeves is the possibility of Pipo Noundou or JR Cawaling jumping back into the fray, firing up their side of the Araneta Coliseum with a Willis Reed-esque moment. Head coach Bert Flores has been planting that seed of doubt in the heads of opponents in a "Will he? Or won't he?" type psych-war. After all, regardless of whether or not he actually fields them in, opposing head coaches still need to prepare for even the mere possibility that they see the floor.

The biggest thing Ateneo has going for them is their championship experience, having won three straight titles. It's not that big a deal if you compare it to playing a team that's getting to the postseason for the first time, like had they drawn Adamson, but as team captain Kirk Long said last year, "(The UAAP Finals) is sort of our home ground." That's the sort of winning attitude the Eagles will come to the table with, especially knowing that they took FEU's best punch in that overtime win, and still managed to rally for the victory.

EDGE: Slight advantage to FEU


Prediction
More than getting an elimination round sweep, repeating for the fourth straight year has always been the main goal of Ateneo, and it's hard to imagine them faltering this close to the end. The Eagles simply have more weapons in this match-up, are a better defensive squad, and have the advantage of having beaten FEU twice, once in a blowout and then by a small margin. That is not to say that FEU will not go down fighting, in fact, I do not expect a blowout win like what we saw a season ago, but the Tamaraws need a lot of things to go right for them, starting with some ridiculously good shooting. Simply put, this is Ateneo's to win, and win they shall.

ADMU Blue Eagles win in two games, accomplishes the four-peat.

The Battles: ADMU vs UST S74 Final Four

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The Center Battle

• UST's Karim Abdul  versus ADMU's Greg Slaughter, featuring a cameo by Frank Golla

Prior to this game, the storyline was all about how Karim Abdul had shut down Greg Slaughter in their regular season meetings, how Abdul would be fired up after sitting out their last regular season game due to suspension, how Slaughter seemed to force things versus the big men of Adamson, and so on. In the first quarter, Abdul did dominate, scoring 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting with three rebounds and a block. The difference was that Slaughter did not back down, scoring points as well, already beating his six point average in the game's first right minutes, scoring eight while going 4 for 4 from the field.

But the Eagles were not going to get anywhere swapping basket for basket with Abdul, thus, send in the reserves, as Frank "The Tank" Golla was given the defensive job of handling the Cameroonian. Guess what, the move turned out to be genius. Unlike Slaughter, who seemed to be too "gigil," leaping into the air everytime Abdul made the slightest twitch of his shoulders (if I was 7-feet tall and had his wing span, I don't think I'd even jump to try to block a shot), Golla played him straight up, and refused to bite on his fakes. Meanwhile, Ateneo head coach Norman Black must have been pointing out what Golla was doing to Slaughter, as when Golla sat back down, Slaughter had learned his lesson, shutting down Abdul for that quarter. All in all, Abdul was 0 for 6 from the field in that period, 1 of 4 for the rest of the game, as the fatigue clearly set in by around the third quarter.

Abdul wound up scoring five more points after the first quarter, finishing with a line of 16 points, 16 boards, two steals and two blocks. Slaughter had nine points after the first ten minutes of play, outscoring Abdul with 17 points, plus eight rebounds and three blocks, before cramping up late.


The Backcourt Battle

• ADMU's Kirk Long and Emman Monfort versus UST's Jeric Fortuna and Jeric Teng

In their final year as Blue Eagles, Long and Monfort have seen their scoring go down (currently averaging 8.3 and 7.1 points, after 9.6 and 8.9 a season ago) but it barely matters to them as that hasn't been their role. What they have been doing is locking down on the top two perimeter threats of the other team and running the show for the other players. It's a stark contrast to the two Jeric's of UST, who have had to do more work on the offensive end due to the absence of Clark Bautista (Fortuna jumped from 10.4 points a game to 13.6, while Teng went from 12.9 points to 14 a game).

Similar to their regular season encounters, Teng and Fortuna were controlled throughout the first three periods, combining for just nine points. When the chips were down though, the UST backcourt was able to make it a game in the final period, scoring 11 as an upset seemed like a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, Fortuna giveth (three assists) but he also taketh away (two turnovers), and he was unable to score on the overtime-forcing triple try on the last shot. It wasn't all glitter and gold for the Ateneo side either, as both Monfort and Long went scoreless in the final period, with Long in particular, missing three triple attempts, any one of which could have been dagger shots. In the end though, the Blue Eagle duo combined for nine assists and played praise-worthy defense, even in the face of a suddenly hot pair.

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The Rookie Battle

• UST's Kevin Ferrer versus ADMU's Kiefer Ravena

Kiefer Ravena denies that it became a rematch of their Juniors Finals in the fourth quarter of this game, saying that it was always "Ateneo versus UST." It sure didn't seem like it though, as the regular season Juniors MVP took on the Finals Juniors MVP of Season 73, just like what happened nearly a year ago. In previous games, Ravena had flourished, taking on the assignment of guarding the taller Ferrer happily, stretching back to their encounter in the summer's Fil-Oil tournament. What made the assignment work, allowing Ateneo to leave Monfort and Long to handle the Jerics, was that despite the height advantage of Ferrer, the former Tiger Cub did not know how to use it, content to just throw up shots from the perimeter (1 of 12 in the regular season), and even those refused to connect.

In the fourth quarter, Ferrer finally seemed to take it personally, and began posting Ravena up, but you could see how uncomfortable and how alien the maneuver seemed to him, even committing an offensive foul once for elbowing Ravena out of the low post. Still, numbers-wise, Ferrer's eight points helped keep UST alive, and was the first time he scored double-digits versus the Eagles. Ravena on the other hand, had five in the fourth, but could have been better, shooting only 2 of 6 from the field, missing out on some of his fadeaways, and converting just 1 of 3 potentially huge free throws, after drawing Ferrer's fifth on a triple try.

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 The Reserves Battle

• ADMU's Justin Chua, Tonino Gonzaga and Juami Tiongson versus UST's Robin Tan and Melo Afuang

In a do or die game, UST coach Pido Jarencio knew that he had to lean on his starters, as only reserve bigs Paolo Pe and Melo Afuang saw more than five minutes off the bench. Afuang of course, was a surprise, coming out of recovery from gallstone surgery early to play in this game, finishing with five points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, Robin Tan had never made a field goal in the regular season, going 0 for 9 overall, 0 for 5 from beyond the arc. But he finally hit a shot, a triple to boot, in the game's second period, to the delight of the UST side.

On the other side of the court, the result was the opposite. After being maligned for most of the regular season, Black actually gave key minutes to his reserves, and they rewarded his confidence in him with some big moments. It was Tonino Gonzaga and Juami Tiongson who helped create the separation between the two squads in the second quarter, scoring their combined 10 points in the first half. Then with Slaughter succumbing to cramps, Justin Chua ably filled in for the big man in the final period for five points, snagging a crucial offensive rebound of a Long miss that allowed him to hit a free throw to prop Ateneo up four with less than a minute.   

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The Forwards Battle

• UST's Chris Camus versus ADMU's Nico Salva

The opposite of the Abdul-Slaughter match-up in the regular season, Salva has menaced Camus especially when isolated against him, beating him off the dribble, oftentimes in fantastic manner. A scoreless first quarter gave way to both players getting into a groove, though Camus was certainly hindered by foul trouble. And while Salva was able to add to his highlight reel with another fantastic play, getting the step on Camus for a nice layup, the former San Beda Team B player unleashed two big triples in the fourth quarter, going back to his days as a shooter, to two UST to good position. Unfortunately for him though, in the end, Salva was able to seal the game with two free throws, paving the way for his team to advance to the Finals. Camus will have to wait a year to get his revenge.



8 Things I Think

• Now that I've gotten confirmation that Melo Afuang and Chris Camus will indeed be back for next season (there was some notion that they would fall victim to the 7-years out of high school rule), I think that the Tigers are poised to return to the Final Four. Getting back guys like Clark Bautista, Aljon Mariano, and Eduardo Daquioag will give them more firepower and ease the pressure off Fortuna and Teng. 
• I don't think Ateneo's defense was horrible in the final period, it's just that it will always give up long-range shots because that's what it's designed to do, according to head coach Norman Black: deny the interior and make opponents beat them from the outside. Luckily for them, they had a big enough lead that UST could not complete the comeback.
• I think UST's end to the third quarter was a huge missed opportunity, as they tried to cut a 15-point lead down to single digits. Despite repeated trips to the line, Camus and Afuang finished just 3 of 8, making it 52-40 entering the final period.
• I think it surprised a lot of people that the Tigers didn't try to zone more often, insisting on matching up one on one with the Eagles. UST seemed intent on getting the rebounding advantage, something they would lose if they went zone, but it would have been a worthy gamble considering Ateneo was just 7 of 32 from the perimeter for 16 points. 
• I think Ateneo's recent inability to hit free throws is rather disturbing. They ended the season tops with a 72.83 clip, but are just 30 of 49 for 61.22 percent in their past two games.
• I think the person happiest to see Kirk Long finally graduate is Jeric Teng, though I'm sure Tigers fans in general are happy to see him go

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• I think Pido Jarencio deserves to be head coach again for the Tigers next season.
• I think if UST decides to part ways with Jarencio, they need to strongly consider keeping assistant Chris Cantonjos as long as Abdul is with the team.