NCAA S87: JRU vs SSCR (Round 1)

History Lesson:

• The Golden Stags swept the Heavy Bombers in their three encounters last year, twice in regulation (72-59, 64-59) and then once more in the stepladder round (61-52) for the right to face San Beda in the Finals. Tight defense by San Sebastian locked the JRU shooters down, preventing them from breaking the 60 point barrier even once. 
• The Stags lived on the line, doubling the number of trips JRU took to the line, 31.67 to 15.67. San Sebastian also controlled the glass, getting a 21 to 11.67 offensive rebound advantage. 

Jose Rizal Storyline: 
Over the break, the Heavy Bombers jettisoned foreign players Joe Etame and Nchotu Njei and renewed their emphasis on the full-court press. If forced into a half-court, they have a set of undersized post players and shooters that could give less disciplined teams some trouble.
Stat to watch: Turnover points; the Stags actually beat out JRU in this category last year, but if JRU is going to win, they'll need to blow out opponents in this category
Player to watch: Alex Almario; Almario quietly turned into Steve Nash over the summer, averaging 5.1 assists in the summer league, more than doubling his season average of 2.35. Should the team find itself stuck in the halfcourt, they'll need Almario to be dynamic and find the open man.

San Sebastian Storyline:
The Stags stumble out of the gate this season, with their star player, Calvin Abueva, sitting out the first match due to a suspension carrying over from the Finals of last season. Not only will they lose their top scorer and rebounder, Abueva's speed and ability to finish in transition makes him a highly effective press breaker. Without him, newly annointed head coach Topex Robinson will have to cross his fingers and rely on Ian Sangalang and shooters Jonathan Semira and Ronald Pascual to carry the day.
Stat to watch: 3pt FG%; Pascual, Semira and team captain Anthony Del Rio simply need to knock down open shots, which they will get if they move the ball well. If the triples don't fall though, they need to be aware enough to throw it down into the post to Ian Sangalang instead forcing shots up.
Player to watch: Ian Sangalang; the quietest of the Pinatubo Trio, Sangalang averaged just 6.39 points, 7 rebounds and 1.22 blocks in 23.28 minutes last season. Over the summer though, thanks to the graduation of guys like Gilbert Bulawan and Rey Gorospe, Sangalang has gotten to shine, norming 14.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 28 minutes. If he keeps this up in the NCAA, he'll be a serious contender for Most Improved Player


Prediction: JRU Heavy Bombers

NCAA S87: SBC vs UPHSD (Round 1)

History Lesson:

• The Red Lions beat the Atlas 101-77 and 92-61, on route to a championship. In both encounters, "Superman" Sudan Daniel exploded for triple-doubles of points, rebounds and blocks. 
• San Beda got nearly double the amount of trips to the line (40.5 to 20.5) and shut down the interior to the tune of 17.5 blocks to just 3.5 for Perpetual Help. 

San Beda Storyline:
The Red Lions begin their title defense against a team that lacks height, making this a great game to ease Dave Marcelo and the rest of the San Beda big men into their new roles, without an intimidating shot blocker behind them.
Stat to watch: Assists; ball movement and fast break opportunities allowed the Lions to pile on the points last season. Blue chip rookie Baser Amer might be a whole lot more comfortable in the open court too.
Player to watch: Dave Marcelo; after splitting minutes (averaged only 17.71 the entire season) last year with Sudan Daniel, expect this guy to be San Beda's main man in the middle. Give him around 26 minutes a game and he can easily average a double-double with 2 blocks a game. The question is, will Coach Lim play him that long, or have him share time with, say, Jake Pascual?

Perpetual Help Storyline:
Arnold Danganan graduates, the board shuts down Paul Nuilan, coach Boris Aldeguer resigns, and then the team opts not to field Marlon Gomez. Clearly it's been a tough two weeks for the Atlas, and things won't get any better when they go up against the defending champs. Will they have adjusted to playing without their two big men? Or how about adjusting to new head coach Jimwell Gican, who was elevated after Aldeguer's exit?
Stat to watch: Free throw attempts; Without Daniel under the basket ready to spike any shots that get thrown up, teams might feel more encouraged when they drive down the middle. The Atlas might pull off an upset if they can stick close with the number of Red Lion charities being whistled.
Player to watch: Jett Vidal; In their first encounter against the Red Lions, Vidal exploded for 21 points, all coming from beyond the arc. Clearly he's not afraid to take shots, but the question will be if he can convert at a decent percentage instead of just chucking them up (which might lead to long rebounds and San Beda fast breaks)

Prediction: San Beda Red Lions

Show Me the Paper

Karim Abdul (left) and Alinko Mbah (right) hold the key to their teams' seasons (pic source here and here)

The Philippine Daily Inquirer writes today that aside from ADMU's Greg Slaughter and NU's Bobby Ray Parks, three other players were discussed during last Tuesday's Eligibility Board meeting, and those three were found wanting. Quoth:

"Nigerian Alinko Mbah of the University of the Philippines, Cameroonian Karim Abdul of the University of Santo Tomas and Canadian teammate Jamil Sheriff failed to submit the required documents for foreign players in the recent eligibility meeting."

It stuns me that teams have these players serving residency for two whole years and still show up with incomplete documents. When you talk about UP and UST being improved teams, a big reason why they'll be more competitive this year is because of those two foreign centers. Both teams rely so heavily on three-point shooting that having a big man under the board to rebound and score off put-backs means their offense becomes much more efficient. Both teams also lack real options behind the two foreigners (UP would fall back to Mark Juruena, UST would field Paolo Pe) so the slight chance of either of those two guys failing to become eligible ought to send fans of their respective schools into cold sweats.

Both teams will have until the July 5 board meeting to submit all the missing paperwork.

Round One to Slaughter

Greg Slaughter hopes to bring a four-peat to Ateneo this year (pic source: Inboundpass.com)

Greg Slaughter took another step towards becoming fully eligible to play after a 2-1 vote from the UAAP Eligibility Committee yesterday.

According to sources, out of the five-man committee, representatives from Adamson and Ateneo gave 'yay' votes, while FEU voted 'nay.' DLSU's representative abstained from the voting, while UP's representative chaired the meeting and did not vote.

While many people rejoiced over the news, there is still a remote chance that the former University of Visayas Green Lancer will be brought up again next week, July 5, during the UAAP board meeting.

The Eligibility Committee, by my understanding, goes through the UAAP rulebook to see if a player is eligible. However, a player can still be met with an official protest during the board meeting, though new evidence would have to be brought to the table.

Schools also have until the end of the first round to file complaints regarding eligibility. A recent example of this was when UST lobbied to reinstate gunner Jojo Duncil in 2007 up until the early part of the season (though the move failed).

Worse comes to worse, the matter will be brought to a vote before the board, with Ateneo unable to vote due to the fact that it is one of their players being voted upon.

My instinct is that Slaughter will in fact play this season. Given the Eligibility Board's decision, a decision that takes into account his stint with the Gilas National team, it's hard to imagine what sort of new evidence FEU, or any other protesting school, can come up with. I also don't feel that it is right to go against your own Eligibility Board, because if you go against it, then why not bring up all eligibility issues to the board meetings instead?

That said, it is a given that FEU is fond of these backroom dealings (Soc Rivera rule, anyone?), and thus, Ateneo fans, after encircling June 28 on their calendars, now have to circle another date, July 5, and hope for another round of jubilant tweets.

S74 Schedule V2.0

First posted (as far as I can tell) on ArcherPride, courtesy of a user jdcastro this is the revised schedule put forth by Ateneo after complaints from other schools (the original schedule, circa May, can be found in the comments section of my original post about the schedule).

Comparing this schedule and the "should be" schedule shows that there's still a big difference between the two. I don't know if the schools will continue to protest this, but it looks clear that Ateneo really has no intentions of following the formula for whatever reason. As I said before, my position on this is just go out and play. If your team is title-worthy, they'll go out and be competitive against any opponent placed in front of them.

Hilariously, as pointed out on another forum, DLSU was complaining about having to fight FEU-ADMU-UST-ADU in the original draft of the schedule. The poster correctly pointed out that Ateneo's first four games last season were FEU-ADU-UST-DLSU.

Another thing to point out is the fact that the game times have been made earlier, with all of the first-round match-ups featuring 1pm/3pm start times, as opposed to the 2pm/4pm start times from last season. This I feel, was a concession to get the Araneta Coliseum, what with certain PBA games scheduled there at 7pm.

This was also a much-complained about issue for certain La Sallians, as the original draft of the scheduled had the San Juan Arena as an alternate venue for ADMU-DLSU (as if the UAAP board was ever going to let that one slide). Based on this schedule, all save for six games will be played at Araneta. In contrast, last year's first round had 12 contests in the Philsports Arena, and two at the Arena in San Juan.

The "Should Be" UAAP S74 Schedule

So, as detailed in my previous post, ADMU reportedly sent a proposed schedule to UAAP schools that does not follow the prescribed formula set out in the UAAP rulebook. While we have yet to find out whether or not that proposal will be accepted, or if Ateneo will be made to revert to normal process, we can in the meantime, look at how the schedule would look like under the conventions set out in the rules.

The "imaginary, could-be, should-be" schedule for UAAP S74, under the cut

A Matter of Scheduling: Is Ateneo Looking to Screw La Salle?

Highlights:

• There is a rumor that Ateneo has abandoned the UAAP formula for scheduling games
• La Salle is protesting a tough early schedule, based on the rumor
• While Ateneo should not change the schedule for the heck of it, La Salle ought to play whatever hand is dealt to them.