Five ways to deal with the disappointing loss to UE
by rick olivares
Yes, it’s a crazy world we live in. You’re lifted to a
high after crushing La Salle then you’re laid down low with a WTF loss to UE. All
of a sudden you don’t feel like finishing that cup of coffee, you spit, curse,
mumble, there’s a dark cloud that follows you around, you want to lash out, you
don’t want to remember the last few hours but find it impossible to purge it,
ah, well, damn, you find it hard to finish sentences like me.
My mother always had some food, broth, or medicine to
take the blues away. So in the time-honored tradition of moms everywhere, here’s
my take on dealing with this misery.
For
starters, breathe.
Yep, losing sucks. Unfortunately, the Ateneo Blue Eagles
paid for their nonchalance. Give credit to the UE Red Warriors. They wanted it
all right. They kept plugging in and hanging in there. They made all the hustle
plays and hit the big shots. Jeez, Roi Sumang and Gene Belleza torched us good.
And Chris Javier, you have to be proud of the kid. This is a loss where you
just have to tip your hat to the opponent and at the same time remind your team
to bring it every damn game.
And as the saying goes, better to lose now than later while
there is time to adjust. However, the two-game lead over the closest pursuer
was cut in half with three tough assignments to go. As if I didn’t need to
underscore it but every game and win is crucial from hereon if we want to avail
of the two seats that give a twice-to-beat advantage. Now let’s hope that this
brush with playoff mortality serves as a wake up call.
Don’t give me that BS that we took them seriously. Sure,
we did. In the fourth quarter. The problem is, by then, they had the confidence
that they could pull off an upset. By then it was too freaking late to stop the
floodgates from closing.
As I made my way out of the Mall of Asia Arena, a friend
of mine who is a prominent alumnus from La Salle asked me, “What happened? You
hit everything against us then couldn’t make a shot against UE? And (Ryan)
Buenafe had only four attempts?”
That says something, right?
Try
Kittin’s Scarlett Cake at Cookbook Kitchen (I picked up one at the Eastwood resto).
Take a bite out of some humble pie. We need it if only
to remind us to respect our opponents. But why settle for pie when this cake is
guaranteed to take away the bitterness of the loss (just as long as it isn’t in
the Final Four or the Finals). The sweet calorie-filled icing is guaranteed to
make you think about the richness of the cake and how utterly sinful this is.
Not what is utterly sinful are those 20 turnovers that
killed us because UE scored 23 points off them.
And shockingly, we took only eight free throws. But we
are the top free throw shooting team? So what gives? I caught the excruciating
replay because I wanted to flagellate myself before Holy Week. In the final
timeout, UE head coach Boysie Zamar exhorted his players to drive and be
aggressive. And that was the story of the Red Warriors all game long. They were
aggressive.
Okay we scored 46 points inside the paint. Interestingly,
we scored 46 points inside against UST in the first round and each time we
scored that much inside, we lost. Can we infer that we need to hit those
outside shots to complement the Big Fella’s game?
Greg Slaughter made mincemeat of Chris Javier but it was
the latter who struck the most telling blow of them all – a game winner for UE
(and this is good for this kid who has really worked hard on his game). While
the inside game is crucial, the outside shooting must somehow be on target if
we are to pull out a win. As head coach Norman Black says, when the outside
shots are falling it makes the game so much easier.
Now go try the cake.
You might
want to watch Maria Sharapova’s match against Marion Bartoli.
Down 0-4 to Bartoli, a 24-hour rain delay allowed Masha
some room to breathe and by the time the US Open match resumed, the statuesque
Russian beauty came back to defeat her foe.
This season as well as in campaigns past, when the
Ateneo Blue Eagles struggled in the first half, they found their bearings in
the third quarter (the halftime pep talk sure had its effect). This time, they
never got on a roll and UE piped them in one of the biggest upsets of the
season.
Ateneo had an opportunity to put some distance midway
through the fourth period when Juami Tiongson scored on a lay up to make it
68-63 but the Red Warriors answered with a run of their own and they stood firm
in the end game.
Overall, UE’s starting unit outscored Ateneo’s 76-55! It
sounds impossible but yet it is true. Gene Belleza scored 28 points, Roi Sumang
and Chris Javier had 15 apiece, Adrian Santos had 11, and JR Sumido finished
with seven but had a late game layup that helped UE to their win.
Ateneo’s starting unit saw Ryan Buenafe and Nico Salva
combine for a measly eight points. Eight points!!!!! Now here’s the trade off, while
the two were off, the Blue Eagles’ bench scored 22 to the lone trey by Erwin
Duran.
Now unlike the US Open match between Sharapova and
Bartoli where it was a virtual win or go home match, the Blue Eagles still have
a few games to secure the twice-to-beat advantage. They’ll have a few days to
stew on the loss but the Ateneo coaching staff will make sure that they forget
the loss to UE and look forward to the game against Adamson.
You must
not think of negative thoughts.
If at some point you thought that this was like that
loss to NU in the second round of Season 70, well, it’s close but you don’t get
the cigar. For one, the Blue Eagles at that point were trying to get over the
hump of faltering against the top teams like La Salle and FEU. In that
incredible upset that saw Ateneo lose a crucial match that eventually told on
their hopes to gain the twice-to-beat advantage, the Bulldogs drilled 13 of 38
three-point attempts that game with Jonathan Jahnke and Jonathan Fernandez
making like Reggie Miller in the clutch.
Heading into this match, well, we’re now the four-time
defending champs and we’re trying to find the killer instinct that has been occasionally
missing in action after all the success of this spectacular run. To borrow a line from Chot Reyes (Hey,
Senator, are you listening about giving credit), Norman should file a missing
person’s report on some people.
Nevertheless, it isn’t the first time that we’ve lost a
crucial match in the second round. In the last two years running, we’ve been
dealt losses by both FEU and Adamson. Following each loss, we came out and beat
the crap out of our next foe. We’re going through a gauntlet (Adamson, NU and
UST) here and I couldn’t care less whether it’s a blowout or a nailbiter, the
only thing that matters at the end of the day is a “W”.
Lastly,
just suck up this loss. Nothing you can do about it.
It sure would be fun to win every thing but that is
impossible. At least we’re still on top of the standings with others trying to
catch up. Now to go get a win against Adamson.
Eleven played and three huge games left.
Honestly, I was WTH'ing so much I shrugged it off Noynoy style: smile and laugh about it. Yesterday was definitely one of those WTH moments.
ReplyDeleteUE "trolled" us hard yesterday, meaning it won't do anything for them Final Four-wise, but it was enough to derail the Blue Eagle campaign in its drive for 5 (and give them more confidence)
Hi Rick. as usual I enjoyed reading this post. I would like to share two things I felt could have changed the complexion of this game.
ReplyDeleteI felt the absence of JP Erram was also an issue. In close games this year he usually gave the team a lift during the middle quarters with his height and hustle. His presence could have changed the outcome.
Ateneo also had only 3 team fouls going into the last play. The foul they could have given up was not utilized. It could have added extra pressure on UE and setting up a play would have been more difficult with less time.
Is there anything wrong with Nico Salva?
ReplyDelete