Ateneo 87 vs. UP 67
You can bet that Ateneo's first round loss to UP in last year's UAAP tournament is still not forgotten. And the Ateneo Blue Eagles had seen how their Kagtipunan foes gained badly needed exposure in the PBL and their early win streak in the Fil Oil Invitational. So no way were they going to be ambushed once more. Besides, the loss to La Salle served them good purpose for it woke them up.
As Norman Black is wont to say, this is a different team from last year. Even if there are many holdovers from the two-peat, the dynamics are different. Some of the things that made the team go last year are still there -- Emman Monfort's outside artillery, Nico Salva's continuous evolution as a big time forward, Eric Salamat's in your face defense, and Kirk Long's quiet and solid contributions.
There are a few new looks like Jason Escueta providing an inside presence and Art de la Cruz Jr. throwing up those crazy hooks and shots inside like his old man used to do.
As the team gets into shape (remember at the start of the Invitational, Norman promised the team should be better in a month's time) if there had been questions about the team missing its trademark defense, well, it was on show for the day.
Welcome to Ateneo D Version 2010.
They marked UP's Mike Silungan well and made him work on the defensive end (he had a tough time against Kirk Long, Eric Salamat, and even Ryan Buenafe). They double-teamed when the ball went in and it was like a QB blitz where the Maroons were unable to get off good shoots (that is if they weren't striped of the ball). They lorded over the Maroons in the battle of the boards (a traditional source of UP's power). And whether on the break or in a halfcourt set, the team whipped the ball around and rare did someone take an ill-advised shot.
After UP's Martin Reyes hit a trey to give his side a 10-8 lead, Ateneo trooped to the free throw line for the third time in the game's early goings. And they went 6-6. Emman Monfort's two freebies on a Woody Co foul tied the game for the first and last time.
Then went on a 20-9 tear that closed out first quarter scoring at 28-19.
As Ateneo took it's game inside and forced the Maroons to try and shut down the lane, it freed up the perimeter players to pepper their foes' D with timely 3-bombs. Four Blue Eagles hit treys in the second quarter -- Juami Tiongson, Tonino Gonzaga, Long, and Salamat -- that hiked their lead to 18 at the half 50-32.
"Nagkakanya-kanya tayo," said Aboy Castro to his wards who seemed shell-shocked in their dugout. "Pa-ikutin natin yung bola."
In the meantime, it was the unlikely players who stepped up and helped put the game beyond reach -- Tiongson, Gonzaga, and JP Erram. And the big guy from Cagayan -- Erram -- picked up from where he left off against Perpetual Help with another dominating game on both ends of the court where he stymied the bruising Carlo Gomez, Ifeanyo Mbah, and other Maroons on his way to 6 points and 5 blocks (I could be wrong with this number) while Ateneo's fastbreak shifted into overdrive. They dropped a 28-6 bomb on their rivals to end the game right at the end of the 3rd Quarter.
And one had to do a double take on the score because at one point, Ateneo led by 40 points at 78-38. It was at this point that Ateneo's bigs -- Escueta and Erram were doing well that when Justin Chua went in, Eric Salamat challenged him, "O, ikaw naman!" He responded with an and-one (although he missed the extra point) to give that 40-point lead.
Ateneo’s ball movement was their best in five games thus far (I missed the match vs UPHDS) as they took it inside from the get go. The Maroons in the meantime fell in love with the outside shot.
As disappointed as the UP staff was with the result -- after all, who expected this kind of turnout -- they hoped that it will be a lesson for their team's future.
In the meantime, the Blue Eagles continue to work on their rotation and find out who is willing to step up.
Some are calling for their replacement of some of the players. You should do well to remember that not many figured that Jai Reyes would turn out to be a big time player for the Blue Eagles. Ditto for Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Ford Arao, or even Macky Escalona. This team knows disappointment and they certainly know what needs doing in their chase for another title.
Ateneo 87 – Salamat 15, Long 13, Salva 13, Tiongson 11, Erram 6, dela Cruz 6, Gonzaga 6, Monfort 5, Austria 4, Chua 3, de Chavez 3, Escueta 2, Buenafe 0, Burke 0, Golla 0.
UP 67 – Silungan 32, Padilla 12, Reyes 7, Mbah 6, Co 5, Juruena 2, Saret 2, Gomez 1, Lopez 0, Maniego 0, Gingerich 0, Flores 0, Pascual 0.
No comments:
Post a Comment