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.

NCAA S87 Autopsy: EAC Generals

Outgoing Players
- Claude Cubo (28.8 minutes, 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.8 blocks)
- Dhan Diolanto (11.8 minutes, 0.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists)

Win/Loss Records
- Season 87: 4-14 (10th out of 10)
- Season 86: 2-14 (9th out of 9, due to quotient)
- Season 85: 6-12 (7th out of 10, due to quotient)

Key Stats
- Attempted the fewest free throws per game (20.33)
- Had the fewest assists per game (12.94) while committing the most turnovers (21.5)
- Allowed the most points per game (82.61), thanks in part to allowing the most two-point makes (25.67) and attempts (52.5), and as a result, the most field goal makes (29.94) and attempts (69.22)
- Gave up the most rebounds (47.33) and tied Perpetual Help for the most fouls per game (19.72)
- Finished last in transition defense (10.94 attempts and 14.83 transition points)

Season in a Glance
An early 2-1 start to the season had many thinking the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals were on an upswing after landing in the cellar prior. Though they were just 2-6 in the Fil-Oil Preseason Tournament, the Generals seemed poised to buck a lot of projections by virtue of three players whom they "hid" during the summer games: former FEU-FERN Baby Tam Jolas Paguia, and the one-two Fil-Am punch of Joshua Torralba and Igee King.

As it turned out, that start was to be the high point of the Generals' campaign. In succeeding games, EAC looked lost on both ends of the court, relying too much on isolation plays and finding themselves lost or late on defense, forcing them to give up fouls. Most notably, they were roundly squashed by the eventual champion San Beda Red Lions on both occasions, losing by 41 in round one, and then by a season-worst 54 in round two. Making things worse was a combination of suspensions (Claude Cubo, Paguia) and injuries (three games for Torralba, four games for King) that limited their ability to stay competitive against lower-tier teams. A 3-4 record at the seven game mark gave them some hope that they could sneak into the playoffs, but they would go on to win just one more match, sandwiched between two five-game losing streaks.

Highlight: Down 59-45 late in the third quarter in their season opener against the Arellano Chiefs, Jolas Paguia led a furious EAC rally that saw them explode for a 19-2 run fueled by three consecutive triples to snatch the lead away, 69-61 with five minutes left to play. From then on, the Generals successfully played keep-away, before winning 84-77.

Lowlight: Still without Torralba and King, EAC had to line-up against the SBC Red Lions and the result of the second round meeting was overkill. San Beda never scored less than 25 points in each quarter, and led 55-36 at the break easily. The worst was yet to come however, as the Generals seemingly threw in the towel by the end of the third quarter, leading to a 36-8 fourth quarter scoring spree by the defending champs, exploding their margin of victory all the way up to 53.


Off-season Questions

1. Who's their main man?
Jan Jamon was their best offensive weapon, leading the team with 13.7 points a game, while shooting a team-best 37.14% from outside the arc and 84% from the line. Milan Vargas was supposed to be their veteran leader, but he never looked right after knee surgery, though he did norm 8.5 points and 2.4 rebounds, the latter figure being the most on this squad. Rookie Remy Morada showed he could explode for a ton of points when given the minutes and the ball. Joshua Torralba was perhaps their best creator on offense (though he usually created shots for himself). Head coach Gerry Esplana will need to establish a pecking order and make sure his guys stick to it come Season 88.

2. Will their African big men produce?
EAC will be banking on Noube Happi and Jaques Manga forming a potent one-two punch at the center position next season, to replace the Diolanto-Cubo tandem. Happi looked competent during the summer, averaging 8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1 block in 20 minutes, but whether that translates on to the court during the actual NCAA tournament is still up in the air. They have one more offseason to work out the kinks because they're definitely going to need them come next year.


Team Needs
- Legit 6'5" or taller big man who can play defense
- Pass-first point guard

One Day Later: EAC vs JRU, LPU vs CSB

JRU 90 - EAC 77
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : Big man John Lopez padded the stat sheet to the tune of 17 points, five rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal, with 13 of those points coming in the second half, when the Heavy Bombers pulled away.

By the Numbers :

• The big story of course is the turnover points category, as JRU turned up the intensity of their press to come back from a 10-point deficit. In the first half, they had 14 points from 10 EAC miscues, numbers that bloated to 22, off 13 turnovers in the latter part of the game.
• EAC tried to compensate by getting to the line, off the physical JRU defense. They shot 20 of 28 from the stripe, above and beyond JRU's 9 of 16 clip, but it still wasn't enough.
• The Bombers matched a season-high with 22 assists in the game.

The Other Names : 

• Milan Vargas notched his season-high in the loss, with 20 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 8 of 10 from the stripe. He also finished with four assists to four turnovers. 
• JRU's shooters were on the mark today, as they have been for the latter part of the season. John Villarias, Nate Matute and Raycon Kabigting were a combined 5 of 10 from downtown. The team as a whole shot 18.25 percent in round one, a figure that has crept up to 31.1 percent since.

LPU 94 - CSB 89
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : Floricel Guevarra scored a season-high 27 points in exactly 27 minutes off the bench, while also adding eight rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in the process. Guevarra took up the scoring cudgels from an ice-cold Chris Cayabyab and delivered, with 16 points in the last 15 minutes of the game.

By the Numbers :

• From the opening tip, the Pirates resolved to be the more aggressive team, attacking the rim to get to the line early and often. They finished with a 52 to 31 advantage in foul shots, a disparity that became more pronounced when you factor in that Lyceum made 73 percent or 38 of those freebies, while CSB converted only 18 or 58 percent. 
• Despite said edge, the game was still back and forth from start to finish, with 15 deadlocks and 17 lead changes. The biggest lead of the game was just six, held twice by Lyceum at the start of the fourth and overtime.

The Other Names :

• Both Michael Pate and Carlo Lastimosa turned in flawed performances, missing out on opportunities to win the game. The two were a combined 1 for 12 from outside the arc, and the Pirates were well aware of it, giving up the outside shot, especially to Pate, numerous times. Lastimosa also managed just splits at the foul line in the fourth, and in OT. Two made shots at the former could have put the game away, as it would have formed a two-shot advantage, while the latter would have made the deficit just two points instead of three. 
• Jan Tan managed a 12-12 performance, but was limited to only 24 minutes due to a combination of foul trouble, and a desire by head coach Richard Del Rosario to match up with the tiny Pirates. 

NCAA Picking Record: 64-23-3

NCAA S87: EAC vs JRU

History Lesson:
While sniper Nate Matute was out with a groin injury, it sure didn't seem like JRU needed him to disarm the Generals, outmatching them early by getting out in transition. Forcing 32 turnovers, the Heavy Bombers scored 30 turnover points, as John Villarias and John Lopez won this one easily, 76-60. (Recap here)

What's at Stake:

• At 8-9, JRU has already clinched the fourth seed in the playoffs and can't catch up with Letran. They can however, enter the Final Four with momentum on their side, and a .500 record if they win this one.
• Currently 4-13, EAC is trying to make history repeat itself. They finished Season 86 tied with Perpetual Help, and a win would allow the Generals to drag a team down to the bottom with them, so to speak. Should they lose though, they'll have last place all to themselves.

EAC Stat to Watch : EAC is in last place when it comes to free throw attempts and makes, but they should have plenty of opportunities to go to the line given the physical nature of JRU's defense. They'll just have to hope they convert more than their normal 61.54 percent clip, which is in the bottom half of the NCAA.
EAC Player to Watch : Jan Jamon will look to close out the season with his third straight 20-point game. Averaging 23.5 points on 52.94 percent shooting, the EAC coaching staff has to concede that riding a sharpshooting Jamon might be their best bet at getting a "W."

JRU Stat to Watch : JRU will look to get a repeat of the first game by forcing the Generals into turnovers, for easy points. That may not be a problem, considering how the ball-handling situation of that team has actually deteriorated. EAC gave up 15.1 turnover points on average in the first round, but it bloated up to 19 in the second round.
JRU Player to Watch : Jeckster Apinan has been JRU's best rebounder, hauling down double-digit boards in nine of the team's 17 games. With EAC lacking ceiling outside of Claude Cubo, Apinan ought to dominate his match-up, and thus, the interior.

Prediction: JRU Heavy Bombers

One Day Later: CSB vs EAC, CSJL vs SBC

Alright, technically two days later...

CSB 82 - EAC 73
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : Michael Pate hadn't gotten the advantage of major minutes in prior games, but with Jonathan Grey sitting this one out after getting stitches from when they played Letran, Pate showed why he was a big-time prospect this summer, scoring 18 points off the bench, including a 4 of 7 clip from downtown. The former LSGH Greenie also had three boards, three assists and a block in his 26 minutes, helping CSB gain separation from EAC rallies.

By the Numbers :

• Benilde went with a running attack in this match, getting 19 points in transition. But it was perfectly executed at times, leading them to coughing up the ball 25 times, which gave EAC 25 turnover points.
• The missing link in this game for the Generals was their outside shooting, as they finished just 1 for 12 from outside the arc. It's not like the Blazers were really guarding the perimeter either, they just missed their shots.

The Other Names :

• With Joshua Torralba continuing to struggle since his return from a groin injury (21 minutes, six points, two rebounds, two turnovers), Jan Jamon once again was the focal point of the EAC offense, scoring 20 in 29 minutes, on 7 of 16 shooting, plus a 6 for 8 stint at the line. He also hauled down seven boards, dished out two assists, and made a steal.
• Jan Tan bounced back from his horrible shooting performance versus Letran to go 4 for 8 from the field, good for 10 points. Combined with his 12 rebounds, Tan finished with a double-double that went nicely with his two blocks.

The scoring machine - Garvo Lanete proved the constant in this game (pic source)

SBC 84 - CSJL 68
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : With his teammates falling victim to foul trouble around him, Garvo Lanete showed how reliable he is, spreading his 28 points over the four quarters. Finishing 9 of 22 from the field with seven free throws, Lanete made several clutch shots, asserting himself in a must-win game for San Beda

By the Numbers :

• Letran kept attacking the rim, and when the dust settled, Kyle Pascual, David Semerad, and Dave Marcelo each had four fouls, while Anthony Semerad, Jake Pascual and Mychole Sorela were tagged with three a piece. Still, the two teams shot the same number of free throws, 20, and San Beda even made more of them, 16. And all the attention to the San Beda bigs allowed Garvo Lanete, and big-man gunner Anthony Semerad to get open looks from beyond the arc. 
• San Beda controlled the hustle point categories, leading the Knights in all three statistics. They led 17-10 in transition points, 19-14 in turnover points, and 9-6 in second-chance points. Letran typically needs wins at least two of those categories, so it was no surprised they lost this one.

The Other Guys :

• Bothered all season by one ailment or another, Anthony Semerad finally returned and showed just how deadly this San Beda team is with him as an option off the bench. In 19 minutes, the more shooty Semerad scored 16 points, going 3 of 5 from downtown, 5 of 9 overall, providing a spark for the defending champs.
• Kevin Alas was thwarted all game long by San Beda's defense. Scoring just 14 points, Alas missed all four of his outside attempts, and was just 5 for 11 inside the arc, as the physical nature of the game prevented him from finding his rhythm.

NCAA Picking Record: 62-23-3

NCAA S87: CSB vs EAC

History Lesson:
Shrugging off a 10-point game from Carlo Lastimosa as well as a near skirmish that cost the Blazers Jan Tan, and the Generals Jolas Paguia, CSB was able to surge ahead after the double ejection, scoring 13 unanswered that put them up 55-36. Baskets by Jan Jamon and Joshua Torralba tried to get EAC back into the game, but the lead was too great, and with the Generals defense non-existent, the two sides virtually swapped baskets back and forth in the final period, giving St. Benilde the 80-68 victory (Recap here). 

What's at Stake:

• The 5-11 St. Benilde Blazers and the 4-12 Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals will try to avoid the cellar position by trying to win their last two assignments. 

CSB Stat to Watch : The Blazers allow opponents the most attempts from three-point land, 20.75 per game, and the most makes at six per outing. That's actually the same numbers EAC churns out on average, meaning if CSB isn't careful, they could find themselves buried in an avalanche of long bombs.
CSB Player to Watch : Jump-shooting big man Jan Tan has been underachieving this entire season, but he hit his low point versus Letran, missing all but one of his 11 attempts from the field and grabbing just three rebounds in the process. He'll be looking to bounce back in this game, but he'll likely be paired up against Claude Cubo, or his sparring buddy Jolas Paguia, both of whom can give him fits and make him settle for more ill-advised long shots.

EAC Stat to Watch : The Generals turn the ball over the most times in the league, at 21.6 miscues a game, and past experience has shown that the Blazers are now slouches when it comes to running back turnovers for points, scoring 27 and 24 against SSCR and JRU respectively, two other careless teams. This could be an easy source of points for CSB if the Generals display their usual brand of sloppiness.
EAC Player to Watch : Jan Jamon dropped 27 points in 30 minutes in the Generals' last game versus MIT, a career-high for him. EAC made that game a shoot-out and failed to win, but they're a better match versus CSB, given how their big men aren't stand-outs as well. If that's the route they take, Jamon will likely be the centerpiece of that attack.

Prediction: CSB Blazers

One Day Later: UPHSD vs CSJL, MIT vs EAC

UPHSD 68 - CSJL 53
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : Jett Vidal led all scorers with 18 points in this game on 5 of 13 shooting. The more important number though is his 7 of 8 stint at the foul line, just the second time this season he's gotten eight looks at the stripe.

The Numbers :

• Letran simply could not make shots in this game, finishing with a 32.73 percent shooting clip (18 of 55) from the field, and 45.83 percent (11 of 24) from the foul line. They had shot worse from the field versus San Sebastian in round one (25.27 percent), but this was their worst free throw shooting night, so having both in the same game truly doomed the Knights.
• More worsts for Letran: they scored their second-lowest number of fastbreak points (just four), and their lowest turnover points (four), the first time they scored in single-digits in that category this season.
• Truth be told, the Altas also shot poorly from the field, finishing at exactly 33.33 percent, but they made one more triple at a more efficient rate than Letran (7 for 21 versus 6 for 24), and they made most of their charities (21 of 26 for 81 percent). 
• The Knights entered this game forcing an average of 22 turnovers, but Perpetual Help made just eight miscues. On the flipside, the Altas baited Letran into 23 turnovers, five each from Jam Cortes, Kevin Alas and Mark Cruz, and scored 21 turnover points of those mistakes.

The Other Names :

• Not a bad outing by Justine Alano, considering the big men of Letran. He played 26 minutes and scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting, while also pulling down six rebounds.
• Jam Cortes returned from suspension and his rhythm was clearly off, scoring 11 but needing 12 attempts to get it. He did finish with 11 boards and a block, but he was also a pitiful 1 of 6 from the stripe.

MIT 98 - EAC 73
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : Josan Nimes regained his touch and showed off his passing ability, tallying 22 points on 9 of 17 shooting (he missed all of his triples however, 0/4) and six assists, a career-high. If the rookie scoring machine can add to his repertoire a passing game, he could become a truly memorable player for Mapua.

The Numbers :

• Mapua simply creamed EAC in the various hustle points categories. They outscored the Generals in transition, 21 to 10, with 12 coming in the decisive fourth quarter, on second-chance points, 16 to 7, and on turnover points, 20 to 13.
• Another huge advantage for the Cardinals were their free throws, they got 31 looks and made 24, while the Generals saw the stripe a pathetic six times the entire game, and made just half. 
• All 14 players fielded in for Mapua managed to score, including those inserted in the final two minutes, Darrel Magsigay, Jeson Cantos and Michael Abad. 

The Other Names :

• Jan Jamon was instrumental in giving the EAC fans some hope, getting his squad close, but never over the hump, unfortunately. All in all, he scored 27 points on 5 of 9 three-point shooting, and 6 of 9 shooting inside the arc. He however did not get to the line, and added just three boards and an assist.
• Yousef Taha also had an impressive outing, completing the rookie one-two punch for Mapua. The big man had 19 points on 6 of 9 field goal shooting and a personal best, 7 for 7 from the stripe. He also chipped in 11 boards, five assists, two steals and a block.

NCAA S87: MIT vs EAC

History Lesson:
After four games of futility, the Cardinals finally notched their first win by beating the EAC Generals. One could possibly put an asterisk on the game though, as MIT was lucky to be facing a shorter Generals team, as Claude Cubo was serving a one-game suspension. That allowed Mapua to score inside with abandon, forming a 64-51 lead at the end of three quarters. Just to be sure there wasn't going to be any late-game shenanigans though, the Cardinals tacked on a 9-0 run to start the fourth, and held Emilio Aguinaldo to just 12 fourth quarter points, closing with a final score of 80-63. (Recap here)

What's at Stake:  

• At 6-9, the Cardinals surrendered their fourth place spot and dropped a half-game behind into fifth place, as they look up at the 7-9 JRU Heavy Bombers. Both those teams struggled in the first round but seem to have regained their groove. However, only one of those two stepladder teams from last season will get a chance to return to the post-season, making this game a must-win for Mapua to keep in step with their rivals.
• Technically winning all of their remaining games and watching the other five squads ahead of them not win any of their remaining encounters will get EAC into the Final Four, but that's hardly realistic. Thus, the Generals will have to content themselves with playing spoiler in this game.

MIT Stat to Watch : The Cardinals were held to a season-low 59 points, and had just one triple go in during their 76-59 loss to San Beda. Luckily for Mapua, the Cardinals were in a similar slump early in the first round before finding their groove against the Generals (from 37.49 percent shooting and 23.25 field goals made per game to 45 percent and 27 shots made). History may just repeat itself here.
MIT Player to Watch : After a pedestrian three games where Allan Mangahas scored just a total of 16 points, "The Snake" dropped 19 versus San Beda, including 12 in the third period, as he desperately tried to keep the Cardinals in the thick of things. If he can keep up his strong play versus EAC, he could find himself on a roll to close out the eliminations.

EAC Stat to Watch : The Generals attained their season-low 58 points going up against the Letran Knights, as the EAC players simply could not take care of the ball, turning it over 32 times, the second game they've tallied that many errors (JRU in round one was the first). The Cardinals norm the second fewest forced turnovers, just 15.93 a game, but Emilio Aguinaldo committed 23 in their first round encounter, most being of the unforced variety. Ball-handling has been a season long problem, and it's likely to continue to plague this team in this game.
EAC Player to Watch : Joshua Torralba returned after missing three games to a groin injury, but he was far from game shape when they played Letran, scoring just two points in 18 minutes of play, on 1 of 7 shooting with three turnovers to boot. We'll see if he's bounced back since then in this game.

Prediction: MIT Cardinals

One Day Later: CSJL vs EAC, MIT vs SBC

All out Alas - Kevin Alas continues to solidify his case for MVP (pic source)

CSJL 80 - EAC 58
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : Kevin Alas turned in his usual dynamic performance, leading both teams in scoring with 20 points, while also tallying 11 rebounds, six assists, and a block and a steal each. No doubt though, he had a bad shooting night, going 8 of 24 from the field, and 4 of 11 from the stripe.

The Numbers :

• EAC kept things close in the first half by out-rebounding Letran, 22-20, helping them knot the game at 35 all going into the break. By the end of the game, the Knights were able to assert themselves on the boards, finishing 46-41, 18-14 on the offensive glass.
• A huge disparity in the foul shooting bears mentioning, as Letran attempted 45 free throws to just 13 by the Generals, highlighting their different styles of play. Despite a horrid 49 percent clip at the line, the Knights still hit more free throws, 22 than all of what EAC attempted.
• Letran forced 32 turnovers on EAC, but their transition game was off as they only converted those errors into 13 turnover points. Contrast that with the 19 turnovers of Letran becoming 18 turnover points by EAC.
• Jam Cortes had tallied three flagrant-one fouls, thus earning him an automatic suspension for this game. That also prevents him from notching any post-season plumes, a shame since he was in the top 5 of the MVP Race and likely would have been a Mythical Five contender.
• Horrible outing for the EAC guards. Milan Vargas, Igee King, Roy Villegas, Joshua Torralba and Franz Chiong all combined for a whopping 12 points on 4 of 17 shooting and 11 turnovers.

The Other Names :

• Only Remy Morada was an effective backcourt player for EAC, scoring 15 in 23 minutes off the bench, along with three boards, four dimes and four swipes. He did miss all five of his treys though, but otherwise was 6 for 10 from inside the arc. 
• Junjun Alas was the beneficiary in minutes with Cortes out, scoring 12 in 17 minutes, including a triple. He also had three boards, a steal and a block. 

One man band - Allan Mangahas could not carry the Cardinals to a win (pic source)

SBC 76 - MIT 59
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : The biggest area of improvement many people felt Baser Amer had going into his rookie season was his outside shooting, well clearly he's been working on it, as he drained 3 of 4 triples in the first half that provided timely separation from the Cardinals. All in all, Amer scored 13 on 5 of 6 shooting, to go with three boards, four dimes and a steal.

The Numbers :

• Key numbers for San Beda: get 40 or more rebounds and 10 or more fastbreak points, things they did not do versus JRU. Well, check and check, as they hauled down 42 rebounds and scored 12 fastbreak points.
• For whatever reason, the bigs of San Beda were extremely foul happy, unable to contain their Mapua counterparts. Dave Marcelo and Kyle Pascual both fouled out, while David Semerad finished with four fouls. But the guards of the Red Lions had a similar problem, with Anjo Caram and Rome Dela Rosa both tallying four as well. All in all, they notched a season-high 32 fouls, and sent Mapua to the line 35 times. Luckily, the Cardinal made just 18 of them, a 51 percent clip.
• Horrible stat #2 that probably cost Mapua the game: a season-low five assists, just the second time since the season opener when they had single-digit assists.
• Horrible stat #3 that probably cost Mapua the game: a second-worst for the season 11 bench points. 
• San Beda shot 7 for 13 from outside, contributing to a 46 percent rate from the field, 27 of 58.

The Other Names :

• As the lone big man who avoided foul trouble, Jake Pascual played 31 minutes and finished with 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. He did have the worst shooting night though, scoring nine but on 4 of 15 shooting.
• Allan Mangahas tried to will his team back from the dead, scoring 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter, but it simply wasn't enough. He was also the only Cardinal with more than a single assist in the game.

NCAA Picking Record: 54-19-1

NCAA S87: CSJL vs EAC

History Lesson: 
With their backcourt being held in check by their younger EAC counterparts, Letran turned to their three-headed frontcourt beast, and the big men responded in kind. Raymond Almazan, Jam Cortes and Jonathan Belorio dominated the interior to the tune of 43 points and 38 rebounds. Still, the Generals were able to threaten late, cutting a 66-52 lead to just six points with 1:21 left, but that would be their last gasp, as the Knights scored twice to seal the win, 76-67. (Recap here)

What's at Stake:

• At 11-2, the Knights are a half game ahead of the San Beda Red Lions, a place they want to be, because of the twice-to-beat advantage that is attached to the second seed. With the defending champions also playing on this day in the second game, Letran will want to keep up their pace, especially should the Lions collapse for a second straight time. 
• The 4-10 EAC Generals are still mathematically in the hunt for the fourth playoff seed, but that would require some mindblowing collapse from everyone ahead of them, making that highly unlikely. Instead, EAC may want to start trying to figure out their crowded backcourt and see if Claude Cubo can come close to replicating his 29-point game or even something close to that, on a regular basis.

CSJL Stat to Watch : Letran leads the league in 2-point attempts (54.77) owing to their league best 23.86 offensive rebounds, and luckily for them, they'll be playing EAC, the team that currently gives up the most points (81.21 a game) and also the most 2-point attempts (51.79). San Beda has already broken the century mark against this team twice, so it's certainly not out of the question that the Knights accomplish that feat. 

CSJL Player to Watch : Can Jam Cortes repeat history and come up with another monster performance, like his 18-20 outing in the first round? If Lyceum's Mark Francisco can put up huge numbers, then this ought to be a breeze for Cortes.

EAC Stat to Watch : At the risk of paraphrasing myself, I'll simply say that EAC is the worst rebounding team defensively, giving up 48.21 boards a game, while Letran is the second best rebounding team, at 50.23 per outing. Again, this cannot end well.

EAC Player to Watch : On the opposite end of the spectrum is Claude Cubo, and his 29 points, nine rebound outing versus the tiny Lyceum. Can he repeat versus the long arms of Raymond Almazan? Unlikely, but he needs to try to bring some balance to their offense.

Prediction: Letran Knights

One Day Later: LPU vs EAC, JRU vs CSB

LPU 77 - EAC 73
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Player of the Game : With Arwin Azores stuck in a hospital, Mark Francisco got the nod to start, and the unheralded forward made the most of the opportunity, scoring 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting, to go with 18 rebounds and three blocks. Francisco is barely 6'3" in shoes, but he sure stood tall (*groan*) in this game. 

The Numbers :

• Pirates head coach Bonnie Tan said that he decided to run in this game given their lack of players. Given their height disadvantage versus almost all the other teams (save for perhaps, CSB and Perpetual Help), I'm surprised they never thought of doing this earlier. Lyceum finished with season-highs in fastbreak points (25) and turnover points (26) as a result. 
• Lyceum finished with just a single three-pointer for the second straight game, going 1 of 13 from beyond the arc. This is from the team that has hit the most triples in a game this season (12) and the only squad aside from Perpetual with multiple double-digit three-pointer games. 
• EAC topped their previously set season-high for assists by getting one more dime than the 22 they tallied in the season opener. The x-factor? Shooter Jan Jamon somehow wound up with a career-high eight dimes. His previous high was four versus San Beda in their round two blowout.
• In the last 3:36 of the game, LPU went on a decisive 16-5 run to come out on top. They had lacked that ability to put away teams over their four-game losing streak.
• Joshua Torralba returned from a groin injury that kept him out of three games, but he was far from effective, scoring just four points on 2 of 10 shooting, though he also added two rebounds and three assists.

The Other Names :

• Claude Cubo scored a career-high 29 points on 12 of 19 shooting, to go with a 5 of 6 stint at the freethrow line, nine rebounds and a block. 
• Jolas Paguia also had a productive outing, with 10 points in 27 minutes, two triples, seven boards, two assists, a steal and a whopping four blocks. 
• Shane Ko was steady as usual for the Pirates, scoring 11 on 5 of 8 shooting, but more importantly contributing five rebounds and a team-high five assists for Lyceum.

JRU 78 - CSB 63
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Player of the Game : I've never understood why JRU head coach Vergel Meneses messes around with John Montemayor and Ralph Monserat when he has Jeckster Apinan sitting on his bench. Well Apinan continues to put up some impressive sixth-man stats, leading all scorers in this match with 17 points (7/10 shooting), while also being the only player on both sides to get double-digit rebounds, with 10, five on the offensive end.

The Numbers :

• While the JRU pounce-on-turnover-and-score sequences were oftentimes more impressive looking and packed more punch, a peek at the stats actually shows that not only did both sides commit 22 turnovers, but CSB actually edged forward in the turnover points category by a point, 24-23.
• Where JRU actually made in-roads was in transition, usually via outlet pass to a streaking Heavy Bomber for an easy lay-in. In that regard, JRU had the advantage, scoring 15 fast break points to eight by CSB.
• St. Benilde went with a zone the entire game, feeling that they could not match-up with the JRU bigs. But aside from the aforementioned turnover and fast break points scenarios which allowed JRU to score before the zone was set up, the Heavy Bombers also dropped 7 of 21 triples. 
• Another side effect of the zone was in fact, the big men having their way against the St. Benilde bigs. JRU got a 40 to 23 rebounding advantage, 17 to 6 on the offensive glass. Apinan's 10 rebounds and John Lopez's nine boards were dominant, especially in contrast to the fact that CSB's best rebounder had just four boards, while big men Jan Tan, Tim McCoy, Ian Dela Paz and Alison Carlos combined for...seven rebounds all in all.
• This was the first time all season CSB gave up 50 percent shooting, as all of JRU's easy scoring trips helped bloat their percentages.

The Other Names :

• The departure of Lastimosa did give Jonathan Grey and Paolo Taha a bump in minutes, to 27 and 28, respectively, but the biggest beneficiary turned out to be the forgotten homegrown rookie Michael Pate. Pate had appeared in just six other games prior to his start in this encounter, scoring a grand total of 10 points, but he was able to exceed that in just 22 minutes today, scoring 13 on 4 of 6 shooting.
• John Lopez also padded the stat sheet, aside from the aforementioned nine boards. The big man finished with nine points, three assists and two steals, also showing up his CSB counterparts.

NCAA Picking Record: 52-19-1

NCAA S87: LPU vs EAC

History Lesson:
A split at the line with a little under two minutes by Vence Laude had the Pirates threatening to pull off another come from behind win, 68-65, but on the next possession, a gambling Allan Santos chose to help double Milan Vargas, and EAC's playmaker issued a pass to a wide-open Jolas Paguia who calmly sank a huge triple, that put the lead out of reach for Lyceum, handing the Generals a 73-67 win. That allowed the Generals to match their Season 86 win total after just three games. (Recap here)

 What's at Stake: 

• Neither of these two teams are mathematically out of the playoff hunt yet, sticking within striking distance of the 6-7 Mapua Cardinals. But the 5-8 Lyceum Pirates and the 4-9 EAC Generals will need to string together a series of wins, and if they can knock down one of the other teams threatening to get number four, so much the better.

LPU Stat to Watch : After beating JRU in their first assignment of the second round, the Pirates have spiraled downward on a four-game losing streak. Scoring is down big for this squad, going from an average of 75.33 points in the first round to just 70.8 in their past five games. They're simply not converting as well as they used to, dropping from a 39.89 field goal percentage to 34.9 percent. Given that EAC is not exactly known as a defensive club, this could be Pirates' time to break through.  
LPU Player to Watch : Chris Cayabyab has only notched multiple triples in the second round once, a four-trey game versus the Perpetual Help Altas, as opponents have figured out that limiting Cayabyab has a huge impact on this team's offense. The first time they played EAC though, Cayabyab was a horrible 0 for 10 from beyond the arc, so if the Generals can defend him the same way, this could be a long day for the sniper.

EAC Stat to Watch : The Generals have the worst assist to turnover ration in the league, a roughly 4 to 7 clip that has them giving up the most fastbreak attempts in the league (10.08) and the third-most turnover points (16.15). Luckily for them though, the Pirates are almost as bad as they are, surrendering 8.64 fastbreak attempts and are the worst in the league when it comes to allowing opponents to score turnover points, with 19.71 points being given up. If this becomes an up and down sort of game, the Pirates may come out on the losing end.
EAC Player to Watch : With so many players going in and out of EAC's sickbay, Jan Jamon has been the one constant, and as a result, is now tied with Joshua Torralba as the team's best scorer with a 12.8 average. Because we still don't know if Torralba will play or not, Jamon has to be ready to pick up the scoring slack, and build upon an 11-12 performance versus Perpetual Help.


Prediction: EAC Generals

UAAP/NCAA Power Rankings: Week 9 of 2011

The unified UAAP/NCAA Power Rankings throws everything into a blender, hits the button, and ducks as it first mashes up, and then sorts out all 18 teams of both leagues. Among other factors, the panel of one takes into consideration: the quality of opponents played in the past week, how the team fared against those opponents, whether or not a team is on a roll, be it an uphill or downhill, and other factors like injuries or internal disarray.

In the second to the last Power Rankings for 2011 (it's hard to do them four teams in the UAAP are ON VACATION), we see just one remaining undefeated squad take the top spot, and some minor jostling around as the NCAA teams can see the halfway point of the second round from over here. We spend some time talking about the offseason already with the booted UAAP teams, as the mid-section of the NCAA starts to settle as teams drop out of the race for the fourth seed, one by one.

One Day Later: AU vs JRU, EAC vs UPHSD

JRU 79 - AU 69
Recap - - - Preview

Player of the Game : I've always felt like Jeckster Apinan has been underused this season, so it's good to see him cut loose especially in a game like this. Apinan stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting, 10 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, two blocks, and just a single turnover. If he can keep this up, Apinan ought to see more minutes down the final stretch of the season.

AU Positives :

• Andrian Celada led his team with 19 points on 8 of 16 shooting, including a nice dunk in transition in the first quarter, when he exploded for 10 markers.
• Instead of falling to JRU's press, it was the Bombers who found themselves committing a ton of turnovers, 27 to be precise, allowing Arellano to exploit those mistakes to the tune of 25 points, more than a third of their production today. It must be noted though that a large chunk of those errors happened near the end of the game when things were safely out of reahc..

AU Negatives :

•  The Chiefs got to the line nine more times than JRU, 25 to 16, but converted just 16 charities. All those misses could have put Arellano in a different position, especially when they threatened early in the final period. 

JRU Positives :

• The Bombers got scoring from multiple sources, as five players finished with at least 10 points. That's the sort of balanced scoring they missed, as previous wins usually boiled down to a playe or two catching fire.
• JRU was simply on fire, finishing with a 58 percent clip from the field. Arellano on the other hand, was held to just 43 percent shooting, resulting in a 37-23 advantage by the Bombers on the boards.

JRU Negatives :

• JRU's point guards were terrible, with starter Alex Almario turning it over seven times, while reserve Philip Paniamogan gave it up half the time in his 10 minute stint. The only floor general who took care of the ball, Romnick Mendoza, played just six sminutes.

EAC 77 - UPHSD 71
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Player of the Game : Franz Chiong went from starting point guard during the summer to after thought in the rotation once the NCAA proper began. Based on this game though, Chiong might just take that starting spot back, leading the Generals with 19 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

EAC Positives :

• Perseverance in the face of adversity saw the Generals keep calm when the Altas sliced their lead to just three points late in the final period. Without the benefit of a timeout, Milan Vargas attracted the Perpetual Help defenders, leaving Russell Yaya wide open at the baseline for a drop pass and an easy layup, to punctuate the win for EAC.
• Jolas Paguia flashed his amazing skillset once again with a 14-11 double-double, making four triples, and blocking two shots. 
• 58 rebounds is a season-high for this team, after getting 49 versus Lyceum in round one. Sure, Paguia hauled down 11 boards, but more importantly, the guards did their part as well, as Jan Jamon had the most with 12, while Milan Vargas added another 11.

EAC Negatives :

•  After Jett Vidal missed a triple with the score at 73-65 with a little over a minute left, Harold Arboleda grabbed the miss and got fouled, making both free throws with 1:08 remaining.  Scottie Thompson stole the inbounds and got an and one, making it 73-69 as he missed the charity. And had George Allen not pushed off, thus getting a whistle and giving possession to the Generals, Perpetual Help could have cut the lead down even further, maybe even getting the lead.

UPHSD Positives :

• The Altas got blown out in round one by this team, 71-58. Losing by just single digits is a big improvement, sort of. 

UPHSD Negatives :

• While the Altas committed only 10 turnovers, to the 19 of the Generals, Perpetual Help could only score two more turnover points, 14 to 12, despite having nine more opportunities. 
• Perpetual Help left a lot of points on the table, making just 16 of 32 free throws, the same number of conversions that EAC had on 24 attempts. The Altas also kept throwing up triples, looking for a quick way to regain the lead, especially in the third period, finishing 5 for 25 from beyond the arc, led by Jett Vidal's 3 of 13 stat. 
• After getting eight transition points in the first half, the Altas scored just five fastbreak points in the remaining three periods.

NCAA Picking Record: 49-16-1 

NCAA S87: EAC vs UPHSD

History Lesson:
Trailing by just a point, 20-19, to the Generals early in the second period, the host school Altas instead found themselves stymied, held to just three more field goals in the first half, as EAC jumped out to a 34-26 advantage going into halftime. Perpetual Help made one more push after that, as Jett Vidal knotted things up 41-all in the third. Unfortunately, their shooters went offline again when they needed them most, as the Altas managed just one field goal in the fourth quarter's first six minutes, allowing EAC to pull ahead and get the 71-58 win. (Recap here)

What's at Stake:

• These two squads are pretty much locks to miss the Final Four again, with EAC at 3-9 and UPHSD at 3-10. This then becomes a race to avoid the cellar, a place they shared in Season 86 last year.

EAC Stat to Watch : The Generals have been hit hard by injuries in the second round, creating a difficult situation for them, as the unfamiliar rotation patterns have cranked up their turnovers to a league-worst 22 in the second round. As a result, they shoot the ball the fewest times of all the other teams, just 61.67 times a game, two less than the next closest team.
EAC Player to Watch : Remy Morada has been the guy keeping this team afloat, scoring 28 versus Arellano to keep them close, and 11 in their devastating loss to San Beda. If Joshua Torralba continues to miss games, Morada might be EAC's best scoring option, moving ahead of guys like Milan Vargas.

UPHSD Stat to Watch : After some horrible starts to games, Perpetual Help has been avoided getting off on the wrong foot recently. In their past two games, the Altas have scored 19.5 points in the first quarter, a huge improvement from 14.18 mark prior to Mapua and Lyceum in round two. They tallied three games in which they were held to just single-digit scoring in the first 10 minutes, the most in the NCAA.
UPHSD Player to Watch : Harold Arboleda top-scored for the Altas in their recent upset win over the Lyceum Pirates, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds. While we haven't seen one of Perpetual Help's supporting cast string together back to back strong games, Arboleda has previously put up big numbers, dropping 17 versus Mapua and 10 against JRU. He's a good match-up for Jolas Paguia, whom Perpetual Help cannot allow to get hot.


Prediction: UPHSD Altas

UAAP/NCAA Power Rankings: Week 8 of 2011

The unified UAAP/NCAA Power Rankings throws everything into a blender, hits the button, and ducks as it first mashes up, and then sorts out all 18 teams of both leagues. Among other factors, the panel of one takes into consideration: the quality of opponents played in the past week, how the team fared against those opponents, whether or not a team is on a roll, be it an uphill or downhill, and other factors like injuries or internal disarray.

As the UAAP winds down, teams begin to shuffle all over the place as the Final Four picture starts to crystallize. There's a ton of movement in the NCAA as well, as squads continue to jockey too for the fourth seed. More importantly, the committee of one has saved the last two spots for two "special" teams who showed spectacular inability this past week in either defense or offense, as anyone who watched either of those games got to catch a bit of basketball history.

One Day Later: EAC vs SBC, MIT vs LPU

The beatdown - EAC could not stop San Beda, even if their lives depended on it (pic source)

SBC 118 - EAC 64
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Player of the Game : Most of Garvo Lanete's points came in the fourth quarter, when they were already up by a huge margin. Instead, I'm going with the two shooters that helped build the huge first quarter lead: Rome Dela Rosa and Mar Villahermosa, each of whom dropped nine points in the games' first 10 minutes, helping erect a 30-16 lead.



EAC Positives :

• You got beaten by 54. You deserve no positives.

EAC Negatives :

• 27 turnovers basically says it all, as 17 of those came from their top three scorers, Milan Vargas, Franz Chiong and Remy Morada.
• While I understand that EAC was down early on, the Generals panicked and immediately went the route of chucking up three's to try to get back in the game. Given how San Beda was constantly in the penalty early because of their in-your-face defense, the EAC ought to have kept attacking the rim. When they did get to the line though, they only converted 61 percent of their charities. 
• Related to that, EAC's disease of one-on-one play continued, as they got just 13 assists, six of which came from Morada. 
• If Joshua Torralba and Igee King continue to miss games, this team is sunk. As much as I've criticized Torralba for his individualistic style of play, this team misses his talent. King was a nice stabilizing ball handler who would be a huge upgrade over the 10 minutes the team gets from Roy Villegas.

SBC Positives :

• San Beda's huge massacre was helped by a 61 percent field goal percentage and 30 assists.
• A dominant 36 to 8 fourth quarter certainly made it easier for them to pad the score as the Generals essentially ran out of gas in the third period. 
• The Red Lions made 6 of 18 triples, after two games of poor outside shooting, a necessary stat given how opponents zone them in each and every game.

SBC Negatives :

• Because San Beda's rotation basically mixes in everyone on their roster (Pontejos and Koga made appearances as early as the second quarter, for example), they didn't really have any third-stringers to turn the ball over to in the final period. That said, was it really necessary to get the score to 50? 

Josan's the man - with Nimes at the helm, the Cardinals have surged (pic source)

MIT 80 - LPU 59
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Player of the Game : Josan Nimes extended his streak of consecutive twenty-plus scoring games by dropping 20 on the Pirates. It was Nimes who actually set the tone for the Cardinals, dropping 12 in the first quarter to instantly demoralize Lyceum, giving them a huge mountain to climb.



MIT Positives :

• Mapua came out with a hot start, 29-14, and successfully defended it all the way, something they hadn't done with the exception of their first round meeting with EAC.
• For a change, the Cardinals used their inside-out game properly, getting 16 points and 10 rebounds from Yousef Taha, while at the same time, making 8 of their 19 triples. That's how they're supposed to play in each game.

MIT Negatives :

• Huge game for Mapua, as it finally moved them up in the standings to 4th place, after being as low as 10th in the first round. That said, it's an empty win, given how Lyceum had two suspended players, one ruled out because of sickness, and one playing with a flu. Had everyone been healthy for Lyceum and this could have been a different story.

LPU Positives :

• With Chris Cayabyab firing blanks and Floricel Guevarra suspended, the Pirates were lucky to find an alternative source of points in Vence Laude, who top-scored for them with 17 markers. 
• Despite having a huge size disadvantage, Lyceum managed to pluck down double the offensive rebounds of the Cardinals, 16 to 8, and as a result, got a 10-2 boost in second-chance points.

LPU Negatives :

• Amazingly, Lyceum got zero transition points and just three attempts. They could have sorely needed those scoring trips without the Mapua big men getting in their way.
• Allan Santos and Cayabyab were expected to lead the Lyceum charge, but they combined to shoot 4 of 23 from the field. Not exactly what you would want from your leaders.

NCAA Picking Record: 43-14-1

NCAA S87: EAC vs SBC

History Lesson:
The San Beda Red Lions gave the EAC Generals a shelling they won't forget, shaking off a slow start by getting out and running to counter the probationary squad's 2-3 zone. As a result, the defending champs broke 50 at halftime, 52-35, and then nearly doubled their total, to wind up with a 103-62 final score, the largest difference between two teams of the season. Garvo Lanete scored a career-high 32 points while the Generals made do with Jan Jamon's 13.  (Recap here)

What's at Stake:

• At one point contending for the fourth seed, the EAC Generals have slipped lower and lower to their current record of 3-8. second worst in the league. Though there are still a lot of games to be played, they'll have to hurdle five other teams to make it into a Final Four spot, though knocking off the defending champs would be a huge statement if they could pull it off.
• The 9-1 Red Lions looked lethargic against the Perpetual Help Altas in their first game of the second round. But after given more than a week off to absorb their loss to San Sebastian, San Beda ought to be back in top gameform, looking to keep their record at just a single loss leading up to the inevitable rematch between them and last season's runners-up.

EAC Stat to Watch : The Generals have started the second round horribly, unable to grab a rebound as they've been held to a paltry 29.5 caroms, 9 on the offensive end, in their two games so far. Their one reliable big man, Claude, Cubo, has not been Mr. Double-Double as he was last season, getting double-digit boards just three times this season. Other guys like Rafael Sanchez and Dhan Diolanto have not been productive either, especially in light of things like Jolas Paguia's one-game suspension and Joshua Torralba's injury. With the assortment of bigs on San Beda, this trend might continue for yet another game.
EAC Player to Watch : If Torralba and Milan Vargas are out again for this game, then the scoring chores will fall on the shoulders of Jan Jamon, who scored 13 points in 19 minutes in their first encounter. Jan Jamon still averages 43 percent from downtown, and 88 percent from the line, so if he can mix up his game versus the Red Lions, he may be able to help the Generals avoid a complete blowout.

SBC Stat to Watch : With opponents constantly zoning the Red Lions to negate their height advantage, it's imperative that San Beda make outside shots to break down the defense. They haven't been able to do that in their past two games, which explains their struggles. They're just 4 of 29 versus San Sebastian and Perpetual Help, for 14 percent shooting. If Garvo Lanete can come online like he did in their first EAC game, that shouldn't be an issue in this match.
SBC Player to Watch : Speaking of Lanete, he's been in a minor slump as of late. He tallied 18 versus San Sebastian but had zero in the fourth quarter. Then he had just his second single-digit scoring game, notching nine versus Perpetual Help, going 3 of 11 from the field (coincidentally he also only had seven in their first round game). If he scored 32 on EAC the first time they met, surely this will be slumpbuster for him right?

Prediction: SBC Red Lions

UAAP/NCAA Power Rankings: Week 7 of 2011

The unified UAAP/NCAA Power Rankings throws everything into a blender, hits the button, and ducks as it first mashes up, and then sorts out all 18 teams of both leagues. Among other factors, the panel of one takes into consideration: the quality of opponents played in the past week, how the team fared against those opponents, whether or not a team is on a roll, be it an uphill or downhill, and other factors like injuries or internal disarray.

The middle of the rankings have changed dramatically, as in the UAAP, one team lands the number four spot and looks to solidify their hold on it as the post-season looms, while over in the NCAA, former cellar-dwellers begin to find new life in the second round, with an eye to toppling Lyceum from the fourth seed. Also in there, a shift in the top spot again!