by rick olivares
The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons
looked good in their first three matches before looking like they were going to
be blown off the court by their last two opponents.
Ultimately, in those last two fixtures, the sizeable
lead was difficult to overcome and the opponent had a better finishing kick.
Actually, the same could be said in their losses to San Sebastian and CEU that
took the game in the final play of the game.
A quick look at head coach Rey Madrid’s squad and
most likely you’ll come away with the thought that they have no inside
presence. And because of that, UP is forced to shoot not only from the outside
but way out. Now if you’re off target then it’s going to be a long day.
Here are the basic stat comparisons between UP and
their opponents.
TEAM
|
POINTS
|
REBOUNDS
|
ASSISTS
|
STEALS
|
BLOCKS
|
TRN
|
UP
|
76.4
|
40.8 (11.2)
|
14.8
|
6.4
|
3.4
|
15.4
|
OPP
|
81.0
|
56.4 (21.4)
|
17.0
|
5.4
|
5.2
|
18.8
|
TEAM
|
THREE-POINT
FGs
|
THREE-POINT
%
|
UP
|
28-104
|
26%
|
OPP
|
23-113
|
20%
|
UP relies a lot on their outside shooting –
three-point shooting in particular. JR Gallarza leads the team in attempts. I
compared the attempts per team and seven of the 10-man rotation pops at least
one trey per game. For their opponents, seven of the 13-man rotation used
attempts from the three-point line.
The reason why the opponents seem to shoot more is
because of CSB. That is one team that jacks up more threes than UP.
TEAM
|
FREE
THROWS
|
FREE
THROW %
|
UP
|
66-109
|
60%
|
OPP
|
67-105
|
63%
|
For a team that lacks post players, they sure go to
the line a little more often. You can chalk that up to JR Gallarza and Dave
Moralde who handle the ball a lot.
TEAM
|
FASTBREAK
POINTS
|
2nd
CHANCE POINTS
|
TURNOVER
POINTS
|
UP
|
24.6
|
5.0
|
13.8
|
OPP
|
18.8
|
12.2
|
12.4
|
Why does UP score more points on the break than their
opponents if they don’t rebound well? That’s because their guards force a lot
of turnovers. Furthermore, they’re kind of speedy. There’s Mikee Reyes, Henry
Asilum, Kyles Lao, and Diego Dario.
TEAM
|
FIRST HALF
POINTS
|
SECOND
HALF POINTS
|
UP
|
36.8
|
39.6
|
OPP
|
38.4
|
42.6
|
UP is able to keep the game close in the first half
then runs of steam… in the third period.
Check out the next table.
TEAM
|
1st
QTR POINTS
|
2nd
QTR POINTS
|
3rd
QTR POINTS
|
4th
QTR POINTS
|
UP
|
18.6
|
18.2
|
15.4
|
24.2
|
OPP
|
20.6
|
18.4
|
19.4
|
23.6
|
After last Monday’s victory by NU over UP, Bulldogs
head coach Eric Altamirano lamented his team’s relaxing in the fourth period
(and getting into penalty early) that allowed UP to come back.
The Fighting Maroons show that they have one last run
in them. It’s finishing strong that is the problem.
TEAM
|
LEAD
TOTAL QTRS
|
LEAD HALF
|
LEAD
AFTER 3
|
UP
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
OPP
|
14
|
3
|
4
|
Let’s break down the Maroons’ scoring.
TEAM
|
STARTERS
SCORING
|
BENCH
SCORING
|
UP
|
37.6
|
38.8
|
OPP
|
44.4
|
36.6
|
And here’s some trivia:
UP with Mikee Reyes in the lineup 1-1
UP without Mikee Reyes in the lineup 0-3
UP against teams with a winning record 2-0
UP against teams with a losing record 1-1
UP against All-Filipino teams 1-2
UP against teams with foreign players 0-2
UP
frontline scoring = 10.4 points per game
My
conclusion is they already have a fighting chance. The point differential isn’t
much. In my opinion, UP has to go a little more to their frontline players a
little more. They tend to take too many outside shots. If you think of UST,
even last year with their predilection for the outside shot with gunners like
Jeric Teng, Clark Bautista, and Kevin Ferrer, they got to the finals also
because of the rebounding and inside presence of Karim Abdul.
That is one
reason why La Salle got over the hump because Arnold Van Opstal and Jason
Perkins ruled the lane.
For UP, Paolo
Romero who really looks lost in the shuffle. I know he just got back from
injury but they should really make a conscious effort to get him in the game. He
has a medium range jumper and can hold his own in the post. He has not played
well since his rookie year in UP. And the dwindling minutes has taken a toll on
his confidence. Andrew Harris has to hold his own and not get into foul
trouble. I like Cris Vito’s heart but he’s just overmatched. But I figure he
needs a little more confidence. If he can put some points on the board a little
more consistently, he will be of great help.
Well, this
is why you play in the summer. Let’s see how they adjust come the UAAP season.
Whatever happened to Mikee Reyes? How come he's not playing again?
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