Thursday's UAAP games

Big games today in the UAAP and am still under the weather. Whether I make it to the games or not, I thought I'd get my thoughts out here.

In the first match, it's the UP Fighting Maroons (0-2) vs the UST Growling Tigers (1-1). This is going to be an exciting match up. UP is bigger and deeper than UST but that height advantage has not served the Diliman-based team well. There are rumors of discontent again -- coming from the bench. A win will salvage a potentially nasty situation while a loss puts them in a precarious situation given that they have yet to play FEU and Ateneo. In the first round, I'd say even in this year of supposed parity, one loss or two is quota already. A team wants to stay in the middle of the pack for a chance in the Final Four. The Maroons have to limit those turnovers and play some team ball. 

As for UST, they are not going to win much with only two players scoring. They have to get others (Chris Camus, Jeric Fortuna, Aljon Mariano and Melo Afuang) to play longer stretches and score. If they sit on the bench because of foul trouble then they aren't going to help their team's efforts. A team that hardly plays defense like UE will see players like Ed Daquiog seem like a world beater. And as talented as the kid is, a swarming defense applied by Ateneo saw him net only one point and it was from the free throw line. If UP's doesn't play sticky D then Ed might just explode again. But it would be nice to see what sparkplugs Jet Manuel and Daquiog can do.

I'd say it will come down to which coach can make the adjustment. 

In the main game, it's FEU (2-0) vs. UE (0-2). Right now the Tamaraws are prohibitive favorites given they way the Red Warriors are going south. But this is the Battle of Recto. Expect UE to give no quarter unless Paul Lee and James Martinez shoot themselves out of the gym. Martinez is clearly not his old self prior to the injury. And I don't get it, they keep forcing things with Lee when his field goal percentage has been horrible. But stranger things have happened when it comes to these two teams. The Red Warriors actually have a four-game win streak against them dating back to the second round of last year right up to the Fil Oil Invitational where UE played with their current line-up. That was probably the last bit of good cheer for them more so after 2/3 of the team left for the US for training while the others remained behind and stewed over being home alone. Did that have an effect on them? You bet. Lee can hit all the triples he wants but unless he drives, dishes, and connects on and-ones then this team isn't going anywhere. In essence, they play like UST but the Tigers have the headier players.

I think it's good for FEU that they are winning close matches because that should serve them in good stead come crunch time. I'm not surprised that NU played them tough. In FIl Oil, it took a Reil Cervantes buzzer beater to beat the Bulldogs. Who has been doing the damage against FEU's opponents? Cervantes and RR Garcia. 

If the Tams can keep the UE bigs from getting their game going then this one is 3-0.