UAAP S74: ADMU vs NU

History Lesson:
For all of the improvements the NU Bulldogs made last season, the Ateneo Blue Eagles were still able to handle them with ease, raking in two double-digit wins. In their first round encounter, a combination of great quarterbacking by Ryan Buenafe (9 assists) and pouncing on turnover opportunities (NU had 24 errors which ADMU converted into 36 turnover points), led to major to scoring opportunities for Eric Salamat (20 points), Kirk Long (19 points) and Nico Salva (14 points), as the Eagles won easy, 82-65. The second round saw NU try to pound it inside more, getting 25 from Emmanuel Mbe and Jewel Ponferrada, but it still wasn't enough as the Ateneo defense shut everyone else down, allowing just 49 points while scoring 69 of their own. The acquisition of Bobby Ray Parks changed things dramatically for NU though, as since he's been on their roster, the Bulldogs are 2-1 against the Blue Eagles, beating them in the UniGames and the Fr. Martin Summer Cup, while Ateneo took the victory in the Fil-Oil Preseason Tournament.

Ateneo Storyline : The Eagles have shown great calm and fourth quarter poise, holding back Adamson and La Salle down the stretch to start the season 2-0. While everyone is focusing on their rookie tandem of Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena though, Nico Salva, Kirk Long and Emman Monfort have actually been contributing solid performances, if less splashy. That said, Monfort has been the key, nailing free throws effortlessly to put games away. Starters aside though, the bench has been a non-factor, and a slight tweak or two might be needed to balance the two units. As of writing, we are also unsure if forward Oping Sumalinog will be suspended for his unsportsmanlike foul on Joseph Marata.
Ateneo Stat to Watch : Second-chance points will be crucial for Ateneo, especially if they can get them at the expense of Emmanuel Mbe, who is an excellent rebounder. The Eagles have to be wary of long rebounds, because NU will grab them and dish them to Bobby Ray Parks, who will gleefully use them to trigger a fastbreak. More made baskets means NU will be forced to set-up in halfcourt, where they're considerably less potent, given their average point guard play.
Ateneo Player to Watch : After some spectacular Fil-Oil tournament games, Tonino Gonzaga has been mediocre in the actual UAAP tournament, but in this game, Gonzaga won't be asked to channel his energy into scoring, as coach Norman Black will likely want him to stick to Parks like glue and bother the heck out of him. UST showed that a small, athletic guard (Jeric Teng) can give Parks fits as long as he can keep getting his hand in his face before he shoots, and when Long is on the bench, I expect Zags to be his reliever.

NU Storyline : After a surprising loss in their first game versus UST, the Bulldogs bounced back nicely, beating UP despite Mbe getting into foul trouble early. The Fighting Maroons exposed just how vulnerable NU is to pressure defense though in the second quarter, when they forced 6 turnovers and got 10 turnover points and 15 fastbreak points out of it. The Bulldogs have to take care of the ball better, and that's starts with their rag-tag bunch of point guards.
NU Stat to Watch : Eric Altamirano moved Emmanuel Mbe to the bench against UP in order to prevent him from picking up fouls guarding Alinko Mbah (oops) and to have someone to anchor the second unit. While it didn't work in that specific game (Parks had to go nova to win), Altamirano is correct in thinking that his bench needs to step up, especially when Parks has to sit. If an Ajeet Singh or a Denice Villamor off the bench can catch fire, NU might give Ateneo too many scorers to stop.
NU Player to Watch : Joseph Terso saw scant minutes in NU's first game because he was still recovering from an unstated injury, but he got the nod to start versus UP, and the veteran point guard saw decent minutes, playing 27 and finishing with 5 points and 4 assists to no turnovers. The no turnovers part is crucial, especially if he finds himself matched up against the smaller, but craftier point guard, Emman Monfort.


Prediction: Ateneo Blue Eagles

The "Nu" Parks Argument

The following, compiled from reports from the Philippine Star and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, is what NU looks to present at tomorrow's board meeting to ensure the eligibility of Bobby Ray Parks for the upcoming UAAP season.

Point 1: Bobby Ray Parks graduated grade school locally, from the International Christian Academy in Paranaque.

Point 2: Parks then spent his next four years of education in the U.S., 8th grade at Redway Elementary School, and 9th to 11th grades at St. George's

Point 3: Parks' mother went to the US for work in 2003, with his Dad following in 2005, bringing along Parks Jr. and his sister

So despite the fact that Parks studied abroad for more than a three-year period, which would normally merit a student a two-year residency, NU is hoping to use the rule that grants an exception to "Children of parents assigned abroad due to the nature of their jobs" and/or "Children whose parents are OFWs and stationed abroad."

Here's the problem with that argument.

Baculi said NU will present all the documents to prove Parks’ eligibility, including authenticated papers from the Phl Consul in LA and employment contracts of his mother, to the UAAP board on its meeting on July 5.

The thing is if all that NU has are papers of his mother, it's not going to work because the mother left in 2003, when Bobby Ray Parks was still in Grade 4. The mother didn't ring Bobby Ray with her to the US at that time. If the Bulldogs want to argue that they merit the exception, they'll need to submit employment records of his father to cover the period from 2006-2010 since it's he who brought the Parks children to America to study. It's also a bit of a stretch to for the board to swallow the fact that they'll be using LA work records when Parks studied high school in Memphis, Tennessee, as covered in this Sports Illustrated article.

NU wants desperately for Parks to be eligible this season, and the university athletics office is going to considerable lengths to get him cleared, but boy are things getting confusing.

Looking Ahead: The S74 Rookie of the Year Race

One interesting nugget of information that Eric Altamirano shared with reporters after last Monday's game versus Arellano University is the fact that superstar Bobby Ray Parks will in fact be an incoming sophomore this upcoming UAAP season, thus disqualifying him from Rookie of the Year honors, as per "The Jai Reyes rule."

According to said rule, only actual freshman players can be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award, preventing Team B call-ups, transferees, and other players requiring residency, from winning said award.

The rule became mainstream knowledge after Jervy Cruz was declared ineligible in Season 69, despite leading his Tigers to the championship. Former Maroon Woody Co won the award instead that season.

In essence, the rule forbids the following players, among others, from winning the award: Bobby Ray Parks, Norbert Torres, Cris Tolomia, Cedric Labing-isa, Kyle Neypes, Russell Escoto, Alinko Mbah, Greg Slaughter and Karim Abdul.

Players who are in fact eligible to win the award are Kiefer Ravena, Chris Javier, Kevin Ferrer, Ponso Gotladera, and Arnold Van Opstal.

S73 Autopsy: NU Bulldogs

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


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

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

Forum Crawl: 03/08/11

A look at various, as of the moment, unconfirmed bits of information, floating around the different hoops forums. If an ITEM! is marked in red, take that item with a grain of salt, or better yet, a lot of salt. 

ITEM! Ivan Ludovice, the seldom-used rookie point guard for the NU Bulldogs, has opted to return to his home school of San Beda, after a fruitless rookie year in the UAAP. He'll have to sit out a year, but come 2012, he's expected to be Baser Amer's back-up. It's no big loss for the Bulldogs though. Joseph Terso will be expected to land the starters' job, Cedric Labing-isa will probably be the main back-up, and Ray Ray Parks can handle the rock as well.

ITEM! 6'2" combo guard prospect Michael Pate is expected to land with the De La Salle Green Archers, according to posts on Archer Pride (middle, in the picture). Given DLSU's crowded backcourt and his relative lack of polish though, he might be Team-B bound for a season or two. Also in that picture, on the left, Louie Vigil, who is expected to finally graduate high school and enroll in La Salle.


ITEM! UST has Jeric Fortuna and Robin Tan to man the point guard spot for the Growling Tigers next season, but they're not content yet. They're also slated to add Jamil Sheriff, a 6'1" 5'9" Fil-Canadian point guard that will sort of give height at that position (the former two players are only about 5'6" each). Check out the video below to see how Sheriff looks like:

Links Spam: 01/12/11

• In case you didn't see it, the Philippine Star and GMA News broke the story last night that Bobby Ray Parks will commit to NU for at least 2 seasons.
• The Manila Standard Today wonders when Kiefer Ravena will make up his mind
• The Philippine Daily Inquirer wrote about new coaches Eric Altamirano and Jerry Codinera
• EDITED TO ADD (01/12/11): Says Inboundpass.com: "It is widely believed, however, that Lee would declare himself eligible for the 2011 PBA Draft and forego his last year of collegiate eligibility if Chongson wasn’t rehired." Yowza.  
• EDITED TO ADD (01/12/11): Beth Celis grinds the rumor mill, looking for the next Air 21 coach. In her list she has Junel Baculi, currently running the NU sports program, and Leo Austria, head coach of the Adamson Falcons. Imagine the resultant chaos should either of those two men leave...
• Bleachers Brew has a nice graphic showing the winners of the recent Collegiate Basketball Awards:

Poor Decisions: Why Stay Bobby Ray?

"This July, I'm going to take my talents to the Mall of Asia and join the National University Bulldogs"

I do not understand Bobby Ray Parks' decision to forego his scholarship to play for US NCAA Division I school Georgia Tech and instead play locally, in the UAAP, for the National University Bulldogs. No doubt, a good number of people won't understand the decision either.

There will be people who will claim to understand it though. They will wrap their reasons in the cloak of patriotism, but that's an overly simplistic view of things. It would be considered patriotic if the two leagues, the US NCAA and the UAAP were equal. It doesn't take a genius to see that the two aren't. And regardless of whether or not his future intentions are to play in the NBA, to play for a Philippine National Team, both, or simply to be the best that he can be, all three goals would be best achieved by going to Georgia Tech. He accomplishes none of those by going to NU.

Parks will not get noticed or draw any attention from NBA scouts by playing here. He may be good, but it'll be hard to tell here. At 6'5", Parks will be taller than most of his competition, a situation that will only be exacerbated by the fact that his father is insisting that he play a guard position. Playing long minutes at the 4 or 5 won't help him either, because the NBA won't be drafting him for his post skills. It's nice to see a taller point guard like Chauncey Billups post up a smaller opponent in the post, but it's not something you want to go to on every possession, so toss that out the window.

Defenders of his decision will say that by playing in the UAAP, he will have an easier time representing his country in international competitions. This is nonsense. The US NCAA basketball season runs roughly from October to March. The UAAP basketball season runs from July to October, with the PCCL in November. Guess what months most international competitions run from? The answer is July to November, meaning Parks would have to take a leave of absence from his studies and the Bulldogs to represent his country. If he had chosen Georgia Tech, it would be summer from July to September, and non-conference play up until January. That means Parks could easily come back to the Philippines with permission from GT to play for events like the Olympic Qualifier. This is something international students do all the time, like for example, current Portland Trailblazer, St. Mary's alum, and Australian national team member Patrick Mills.

Making the decision more inexplicable is the possibility that Parks will be ruled ineligible to play for at most two seasons locally, should several schools push through with their plan to question his eligibility.

In the article in the Philippine Star, NU head coach Eric Altamirano compares the case of Parks to that of DLSU Green Archer Maui Villanueva, saying "Bobby Ray played for the Philippines in the first Youth Olympics in Singapore last year. Residency is not necessary in his case."

Actually though, the two cases are quite dissimilar. As of Season 70, the UAAP Rules and Regulations says that a player who studied abroad must sit out 2 years before becoming eligible. One exception though, is for "Filipino students who had their second high school graduation abroad, provided the first graduation was from a high school in the Philippines." EDITED (01/12/11):  Such was the case for Villanueva, who graduated from UPIS, before moving to Japan and graduating from a high school there. Such was the case of Villanueva, who did not graduate from UPIS before finishing high school in Japan. Such was the case of Villanueva, who graduated from UPIS, AND from a secondary school in Japan. Thus, according to the rule (which is named in his honor), Villanueva was able to play immediately for DLSU in Season 70. In Parks' case, he studied high school in Melrose, Memphis, Tennessee where it is unclear if he graduated or not, given how he is listed as a class of 2011 recruit by ESPN.

What is known is that sometime around last year's UAAP season, he came over to the Philippines and enrolled in classes in National University. The article says that Parks "obtained a certification from the Department of Education" confirming that he has completed his high school requirements, but the point of attack will be where said requirements were completed. If the answer is, "America," he will have to sit out. EDITED TO ADD (01/12/11): Is it possible that NU had Parks take a PEP test? Parks would still have to sit out a year, according to UAAP rules. However, given that Parks enrolled as a freshman last year, which could in theory count as his year of sitting out, it gives rise to the question, "when did he take the test if he just came back to Manila last year?" And how could he pass the test given, at most, reaching the junior year in the US?

Making the situation more befuddling is the fact that Ray parks, his father, has said that Bobby Ray will still leave the door open to play college in the US, saying that his son "will play at least two years with NU then he'll study his options." While anything is possible, the chances of him getting recruited again by a program as good as Georgia Tech are now much slimmer. It's rare for student-atheletes to break or go back on their Letters of Intent, which Parks signed when he committed to Georgia Tech, and even rarer for them to want back in. The longer he plays collegiately will also have a negative effect on his NBA draft stock, what with most teams wanting rookies to be closer to 20, than to 24, which he will be, by the time he plays two years in the UAAP, one year of red-shirting, and at least one year in the NCAA.

And finally, there is the unspoken suspicion going around the internet that the reason why Parks has decided to stay is to keep reaping the benefits of a substantial signing bonus that NU offered him. As ADMU coach Norman Black said winkingly in a forum, he fears NU in the upcoming UAAP season because "they've been buying a lot of players lately...giving out signing bonuses." Although that line drew laughs, it is the sort of thing that the NCAA can and probably will look into, further decreasing his chances of playing in the US.

There is no question that the addition of Parks will make the NU Bulldogs a Final Four contender next season. What is sad is the amount of opportunities abroad that Parks is giving up in order to give a former doormat team some legitimacy. Again, you can dress it up in patriotism all you want, but the possibility of Parks becoming the first Filipino drafted in the NBA would have been bigger cause for celebration. Settling for the UAAP, and most likely, for the PBA, isn't.

One Decision Down: Bobby Ray Parks Commits to NU

Both the Philippine Star and GMA News are reporting that 6'5" Fil-Am prospect Bobby Ray Parks has decided to give up his scholarship offer to play for US NCAA Division 1 school Georgia Tech and instead begin his collegiate career locally with the National University Bulldogs.

UAAP Decision II: National U Boogaloo

On the heels of Kiefer Ravena's impending "Decision" comes another potential UAAP cager making a tough choice: Should Bobby Ray, Jr. up to his letter of intent to Georgia Tech, or honor an earlier commitment to National University?

Well, according to a new Yahoo post by Patrica Bermudez-Hizon, his answer will come in a "couple of weeks" according to Parks' father, former PBA import, Bobby Parks, Sr.

The article seems to be quite optimistic about his chances of staying, quoting Parks, Sr. saying:

"(Ray) is still weighing it out.  Of course Georgia Tech is a top ACC school but we’re also looking at things in terms of being able to play for the national team.  He really wants to serve the country and get some international experience....One thing is he grew up here, hence the love for the Philippines...I also feel this is a fairly quicker way to get into the NBA because now international basketball players are a big thing.  We’re looking at that also.  He would like to be the first Filipino to make it to the NBA and I think he would have to lay the ground work here, become very familiar with the Filipinos here, serve the country and get the fan base behind him. Then if he goes to the States, go to college or wherever there would be a big Filipino community, they would come out and really support him."

 Personally though, I don't really find any compelling reason for him to stay. He'd actually have an easier time playing for the national team should he go to Georgia Tech, as most international tournaments run from July to October, exactly when it's summer in the U.S.

Furthermore, it'll be a lot easier to get drafted into the NBA playing college hoops in the U.S. as it'll be easier for scouts to compare his performance versus other Americans. There's not a lot NBA scouts are going to learn if he plays here, out of position, versus players much shorter than him. 

Finally, the longer he stretches out his "collegiate" stint, by say, playing a year or so in N.U., and then spending another year or so in the U.S., the bigger the hit his draft stock is going to take. NBA scouts hate old college players, and so it makes more sense for him to play one year in the A.C.C. where Georgia Tech plays, and then declare for the NBA Draft in 2012. All that hogwash about getting the Filipino community to support him is nonsense. He'll get the support regardless of where he plays, knowing Filipinos. 

All that said, the post can be seen in the light of his father laying the groundwork for him staying, and should that be the case, Parks, Jr. faces a risk that might keep him sidelined even longer.

There has been significant rumbling that several schools would be banding together to question Parks, Jr.'s eligibility for the upcoming Season 74. They would be attacking him on the grounds that he never fully established his high school credentials locally, which are needed for him to immediately play for N.U. next season (the best example would be how Kirk Long graduated high school here, before immediately going to play for Ateneo), thus forcing him to sit out the two year period for foreign transfers (ala Emmanuel Mbe).

I had always thought that Parks would drag this decision out until June, before the season would start, to allow him to keep an "escape hatch" so to speak, to allow him to go abroad, should he in fact be made to sit out.

The timing of this decision then, becomes rather questionable. Perhaps Georgia Tech has become antsy and is demanding an answer now (a strong possibility, given that in U.S. NCAA culture, a letter of intent is NOT something you back out of with good reason, for fear of drawing serious flack and harming your reputation) or N.U. is certain that they'll be able to beat any accusation from the other UAAP member schools.

In all, coupled with the Ravena "decision," this will make for a fun January, for UAAP fans