Brainfreeze
Ateneo 80 vs. UE 75
pissed off story by rick olivares cool pic by raddy mabasa
Ateneo 80 vs. UE 75
pissed off story by rick olivares cool pic by raddy mabasa
If you’ve been waiting for the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles to play that wall-to-wall 40-minute game where they opened a can of whoop-ass on its foe then you’ll have to look beyond this second round encounter with the University of the East Red Warriors.
The Blue Eagles were awesome in the second quarter and seemed poised to win by 100 points – an obvious exaggeration so don’t have a cow – but come the final 20 minutes, they played not to lose.
So for that much-anticipated kick-butt match, kindly refer to the third game of Season 72 when Ateneo went Tiger hunting.
The Red Warriors went into the match minus forward Pari Llagas who was serving out a one-game suspension for an on-court altercation with FEU’s Reil Cervantes that resulted in an ejection. The penalty was harsh since there was nothing more than an exchange of words. And Llagas, who is having a career year with 14.9 points and 9 rebounds a game and is on track this early for the Most Valuable Player Award.
Lawrence Tiongson, clearly not happy with the hand his team was dealt, promised no quarter to be given, “We are not handing Ateneo anything on a silver platter.”
The defending champs in the meantime were a little concerned with their version of “Hell Week.” After disposing of a hard-fighting La Salle team in overtime last Sunday, they were up against a dangerous UE team that needed to pile more wins. They didn’t want to get caught in a protracted battle with the Red Warriors with the rematch with La Salle a few days away. The earlier they could turn the match into a rout and send the bench in the better.
And they seemed to be on the way when the second unit of Emman Monfort, Nico Salva, Ryan Buenafe, and Oping Sumalinog joined Rabeh Al-Hussaini on the floor.
From a 19-21 deficit at the end of the first quarter, Ateneo dropped a 21-1 cluster bomb on UE behind some dazzling and seamless team play. By the time their Recto-based foes recovered their wits they were staring at a 48-30 deficit at the half.
The resumption of the game didn’t look too good for UE as Tiongson was assessed a technical foul for disparaging the referees. Jai Reyes promptly deposited the two free throws to hike the lead to 20.
Instead of folding, UE methodically chipped at the lead despite Al-Hussaini’s being in a zone. Easily his best game of the tournament thus far, the Ateneo slot man single-handedly kept the Red Warriors at bay with 10 straight points for a total of 17 in the second half. He would finish for a tournament high 30 points (tying UST Tiger Dylan Ababou for the honor) while grabbing 12 boards and blocking 2 shots.
With under three minutes to play and the score 67-52 in favor of Ateneo, UE made one last push through a conventional and-one by Paul Lee off Eric Salamat, a three by Rudy Lingganay who also had a three-point play of his own, and two triples that Acuña rifled in from some 27 feet out.
To the horror of the coaching staff and everyone with blue blood in their veins, the Blue Eagles turned over the ball on almost every possession. Had there been more time on the clock, who knows what the Red Warriors could have done? The seconds ran out mercifully and Ateneo had its needlessly nerve wracking 80-75 win to go to 7-1.
“That was my fault,” admitted Reyes afterwards. “Being the point guard it is my job to take care of the ball and set it up properly. We just relaxed.”
A drained Norman Black initially groped for words. There was much he held back for public consumption and saved his anger for the post-game talk. After that they had to prepare for a vengeful La Salle that was upset earlier in the day by Adamson.
The two-minute brain freeze the Blue Eagles suffered in the end game somewhat dampened the joy of the team’s seventh win in eight matches. By now they should have worked out the kinks since they’ve had a look at every team in the league already. Instead, there are questions about the team’s killer instinct. Yet as terrible as their offense has been -- and it has reflected in the dip in almost everyone’s personal statistics save for Nico Salva and Emman Monfort -- the team is number one. And however terrible that a-win-is-a-win game, it is notable for a couple of things: 1) Rabeh Al-Hussaini kicks royal butt after suffering ankle sprains, and 2) the bench bailed out the starting unit again.
The Red Warriors too can take home with them some consolation thoughts: 1) even without Pari Llagas, they are one tough customer, and 2) Val Acuña, who starts like a house on fire that you have to wonder if you need to call the fire department, will make his best impression of the Invisible Man before reappearing when foes least expect him to.
Now how that applies to this weekend is anyone’s guess.
Ateneo 80 – Al-Hussaini 30, Salva 12, Reyes 11, Salamat 6, Long 5, Buenafe 5, Baclao 4, Monfort 3, Sumalinog 2, Austria 2, Golla 0, Chua 0
UE 75 – Lee 20, Espiritu 20, Zamar 10, Lingganay 9, Acuña 9, Duran 3, Tagarda 2, Reyes 2, Sumido 0, Bandaying 0, Ayala 0, Alabanza 0, Acibar 0
The Blue Eagles were awesome in the second quarter and seemed poised to win by 100 points – an obvious exaggeration so don’t have a cow – but come the final 20 minutes, they played not to lose.
So for that much-anticipated kick-butt match, kindly refer to the third game of Season 72 when Ateneo went Tiger hunting.
The Red Warriors went into the match minus forward Pari Llagas who was serving out a one-game suspension for an on-court altercation with FEU’s Reil Cervantes that resulted in an ejection. The penalty was harsh since there was nothing more than an exchange of words. And Llagas, who is having a career year with 14.9 points and 9 rebounds a game and is on track this early for the Most Valuable Player Award.
Lawrence Tiongson, clearly not happy with the hand his team was dealt, promised no quarter to be given, “We are not handing Ateneo anything on a silver platter.”
The defending champs in the meantime were a little concerned with their version of “Hell Week.” After disposing of a hard-fighting La Salle team in overtime last Sunday, they were up against a dangerous UE team that needed to pile more wins. They didn’t want to get caught in a protracted battle with the Red Warriors with the rematch with La Salle a few days away. The earlier they could turn the match into a rout and send the bench in the better.
And they seemed to be on the way when the second unit of Emman Monfort, Nico Salva, Ryan Buenafe, and Oping Sumalinog joined Rabeh Al-Hussaini on the floor.
From a 19-21 deficit at the end of the first quarter, Ateneo dropped a 21-1 cluster bomb on UE behind some dazzling and seamless team play. By the time their Recto-based foes recovered their wits they were staring at a 48-30 deficit at the half.
The resumption of the game didn’t look too good for UE as Tiongson was assessed a technical foul for disparaging the referees. Jai Reyes promptly deposited the two free throws to hike the lead to 20.
Instead of folding, UE methodically chipped at the lead despite Al-Hussaini’s being in a zone. Easily his best game of the tournament thus far, the Ateneo slot man single-handedly kept the Red Warriors at bay with 10 straight points for a total of 17 in the second half. He would finish for a tournament high 30 points (tying UST Tiger Dylan Ababou for the honor) while grabbing 12 boards and blocking 2 shots.
With under three minutes to play and the score 67-52 in favor of Ateneo, UE made one last push through a conventional and-one by Paul Lee off Eric Salamat, a three by Rudy Lingganay who also had a three-point play of his own, and two triples that Acuña rifled in from some 27 feet out.
To the horror of the coaching staff and everyone with blue blood in their veins, the Blue Eagles turned over the ball on almost every possession. Had there been more time on the clock, who knows what the Red Warriors could have done? The seconds ran out mercifully and Ateneo had its needlessly nerve wracking 80-75 win to go to 7-1.
“That was my fault,” admitted Reyes afterwards. “Being the point guard it is my job to take care of the ball and set it up properly. We just relaxed.”
A drained Norman Black initially groped for words. There was much he held back for public consumption and saved his anger for the post-game talk. After that they had to prepare for a vengeful La Salle that was upset earlier in the day by Adamson.
The two-minute brain freeze the Blue Eagles suffered in the end game somewhat dampened the joy of the team’s seventh win in eight matches. By now they should have worked out the kinks since they’ve had a look at every team in the league already. Instead, there are questions about the team’s killer instinct. Yet as terrible as their offense has been -- and it has reflected in the dip in almost everyone’s personal statistics save for Nico Salva and Emman Monfort -- the team is number one. And however terrible that a-win-is-a-win game, it is notable for a couple of things: 1) Rabeh Al-Hussaini kicks royal butt after suffering ankle sprains, and 2) the bench bailed out the starting unit again.
The Red Warriors too can take home with them some consolation thoughts: 1) even without Pari Llagas, they are one tough customer, and 2) Val Acuña, who starts like a house on fire that you have to wonder if you need to call the fire department, will make his best impression of the Invisible Man before reappearing when foes least expect him to.
Now how that applies to this weekend is anyone’s guess.
Ateneo 80 – Al-Hussaini 30, Salva 12, Reyes 11, Salamat 6, Long 5, Buenafe 5, Baclao 4, Monfort 3, Sumalinog 2, Austria 2, Golla 0, Chua 0
UE 75 – Lee 20, Espiritu 20, Zamar 10, Lingganay 9, Acuña 9, Duran 3, Tagarda 2, Reyes 2, Sumido 0, Bandaying 0, Ayala 0, Alabanza 0, Acibar 0
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