UAAP Saturday's aftermath

UAAP Saturday’s aftermath

by rick olivares

UAAP Men’s Basketball updated standings as of September 3, 2011:

Ateneo 13-0

Adamson 9-4

FEU 7-4

UST 7-5

La Salle 4-7

NU 4-8

UE 2-10

UP 2-10

Three teams have been eliminated from Final Four contention: UP, UE, and NU.

Adamson:

What a painful loss today. The signs of slippage were there at the start of the second round. Against UE, they were already looking ahead to play Ateneo. Coach Leo cautioned them about that and they paid the price today against UST. Sometime in the third period, they stepped off the gas pedal and allowed UST to get back in the game. And even worse, they never found their rhythm again.

Scenarios:

If they beat Ateneo and go to 10-4, assuming FEU sweeps it’s last three games, the Tamaraws will also have the same record. There will be a one-match playoff for the seeding.

If they lose to Ateneo and the Tams win their last three games, then it’s possible that FEU could go up to number two!

If UST win their last two games against FEU (Thursday) and NU (next Sunday), and assuming Adamson loses to Ateneo, the Tigers and the Falcons will have similar 9-5 records. Again there will be a one-game playoff between the two.

For Sunday’s purposes, let’s take a look at the two other teams whose games have much bearing on their fate.

FEU:

This will sound easy but will be a difficult matter to address. If Adamson loses to Ateneo and the Tamaraws sweep their last three games, they will be tied at 9-5 and compete in a one-match playoff.

On Sunday (September 4), the Tamaraws play UE. Last Saturday, I was in St. Francis Square in Pasig and in Abenson, they were already playing Christmas songs (on September 3 no less!). Yes, Santa. It's Christmas in September and Adamson gifted FEU with an opportunity to grab the number two slot. If they win, they will go to 8-4. If they lose, it’ll be 7-5 and they’ll fall into a tie with late-charging UST. It is the season of giving after all. Hohoho!

Next Thursday, they play UST. Their last opponent is La Salle on September 11.

La Salle:

The Green Archers have lost four straight. At 4-7, they are in danger of missing out on the Final Four for the third time (the previous two were on 2006 and 2008).

Although UST has the inside track on La Salle which still has a slim chance of advancing. They have to win their last three assignments and hope that UST drops its last two games to be able to forge a tie. Any one loss in their final three games or another win by UST will kill their chances of advancing.

At this point, no one can afford to lose any game. Even the three teams that have been eliminated have nothing to lose at this point and would like to go out with a bang.

National University might have been the latest team to be eliminated from the Final Four race but at this point, they’d like to salvage something about a bad situation. They entered the season with the contender tag slapped on them. To say that they underachieved is a vast understatement. They’d love to get a couple of more wins to build into the next season but it so happens that their last two foes are La Salle and UST.

After Sunday’s games, maybe the scenarios will be clearer.