Keys to Ateneo’s win over FEU
by rick olivares
It was another big win by the
Ateneo Blue Eagles who followed up their upset victory over La Salle by taking
down FEU, 74-59.
The Blue Eagles had their way in
the first half with impeccable passing, rebounding and great defense, that fast
pace they utilized against La Salle and key players beginning to stand out.
Let me expound on that.
Passing. As I previously said, one of the first things that I look
at all the time are assists. The Blue Eagles had 15 assists to the Tamaraws’
11. That’s also an indicator of the willingness to share the ball. And it’s
good that Matt Nieto topped Ateneo with five assists; tied with the same number
for FEU’s Monbert Arong. That adds some solid playmaking from the one-spot; a
knock I pointed out early in the season.
Rebounding and defense. The swarming defense propelled Ateneo to its first half lead. Very good rotation and switching. That energy and willingness to work hard was not met by FEU and they paid the price.
Furthermore, the Blue Eagles dominated the boards in the first half and were outrebounded by six in the second half. Luckily for them, they built a sizeable cushion to blunt FEU’s spirited rally. Nevertheless, the 51-48 advantage is still good considering the Tams have two very good rebounders in Prince Orizu and Raymar Jose.
Furthermore, the Blue Eagles dominated the boards in the first half and were outrebounded by six in the second half. Luckily for them, they built a sizeable cushion to blunt FEU’s spirited rally. Nevertheless, the 51-48 advantage is still good considering the Tams have two very good rebounders in Prince Orizu and Raymar Jose.
Take note that Ateneo is the only team in the league as of
this writing with three players who grab five or more rebounds. That’s
Chibueze Ikeh with 5.1 at the center position. Mike Nieto with 5.3 from the
power forward position, and Thirdy Ravena with 7.3 from the three-spot. Key
positions. And both Nieto and Ravena can bring down the ball.
Looking at the game stats, five
Blue Eagles hauled down at least five boards – Ravena, Ikeh, Isaac Go, Aaron
Black, and Vince Tolentino. Save for Isaac, the other four can bring down that
ball and that’s crucial to the faster-paced game.
FEU only had Orizu (16 rebounds)
and Jose (15 boards) taking down at least five.
The rebounds also helped Ateneo
best FEU in in second chance points in 12-6 and race out for a 9-3 advantage in
fastbreak points.
Some might say that the Tams’
fortunes went south after Orizu went to the bench late in the game because of
fatigue and their 16 missed free throws. I’ll agree to the former to an extent.
But Adrian Wong stuck a triple in front of Orizu before he went to the bench.
Furthermore, that shattered Ateneo’s scoring drought.
Despite the poor play for long
stretches in the second half, it was the defense of Ateneo that prevented the
Tamaraws from overhauling what was a 23-point lead. For instance, Ateneo only
had 9 turnovers in the first half and gave up 12 in the second half. Yet FEU
conceded the points of turnovers advantage to Ateneo, 9-8.
And more importantly, Ateneo gave
up 30 fouls to FEU’s 22. Yet the Tamaraws were unable to capitalize on that as
they missed 16 huge free throws!
The faster-paced game. The fastbreak points are an indicator. But
that’s not all. When Ateneo slowed the game down, FEU’s defense held and the
turnovers mounted. That’s when FEU got back in the game.
Key players. I love the recognition of Adrian Wong in turning the
ball over to Thirdy Ravena. That’s good because Thirdy can drive and create.
Second, he took the higher percentage shot with Orizu on the bench. That’s two
drives and a dish to Isaac Go that broke the backs of FEU. Thirdy will be a
handful next season.
Isaac Go continues to impress. I
am a convert. Watching him in high school play in the NBTC and MMBL tourneys, I
wasn’t impressed one bit. I thought he was just a big and awkward kid who was
forced to play basketball. I would see Clint Doliguez (then with Hope Christian
High School) drive on him repeatedly and smaller guards swipe the ball away
from him the moment he put the ball on the floor. But Isaac has become really
fun to watch.
Speaking of centers, the Blue Eagles really missed the services of GBoy Babilonia who is still being rested after getting hurt in the last match versus La Salle. Babilonia is more than a wide body and an extra five fouls -- he can play defense, can pass the ball, and can occasionally score some buckets.
Speaking of centers, the Blue Eagles really missed the services of GBoy Babilonia who is still being rested after getting hurt in the last match versus La Salle. Babilonia is more than a wide body and an extra five fouls -- he can play defense, can pass the ball, and can occasionally score some buckets.
As good as a win as it was, it
served up quite a few lessons:
-
the team is still a work in progress but one
that is getting better,
-
there is a glaring need for a top big man
inside,
-
when the going gets tough for them the Blue
Eagles have a tendency to commit turnovers in bunches
-
and that if they slow the offense down they get
into trouble.
As for FEU, aside from the plus
stats for Ateneo, the poor play of their guards hurt them. Wendell Comboy who
played well in the first round encounter against Ateneo was a non-factor this
match. Jojo Trinidad and Axel Iñigo logged long minutes but didn’t score or
register an assist at all. They didn’t even get one steal collectively.
Two Tams who shoot the ball very
well (some of their best in field goal percentage) in Iñigo and Richard Escoto
didn’t do much. Iñigo missed all his shots although Escoto hit 3-6 shots.
But more than anything, FEU
missed 16 free throws! They only hit 20 of 36 attempts. The Blue Eagles on the
other hand nailed 14 of 16 free throw attempts.
It was the first back-to-back
loss for FEU this year. This loss was costly as they dropped to third despite
toting an 8-4 record; the same as Ateneo. And the Tams play La Salle this
Saturday.
Ateneo would like to solidify
their hold on second place when they face the ousted but no less dangerous UST
Growling Tigers also on this Saturday.
by rick olivares
It was another big win by the
Ateneo Blue Eagles who followed up their upset victory over La Salle by taking
down FEU, 74-59.
The Blue Eagles had their way in
the first half with impeccable passing, rebounding and great defense, that fast
pace they utilized against La Salle and key players beginning to stand out.
Let expound on that.
Passing. As I previously said, one of the first things that I look
at all the time are assists. The Blue Eagles had 15 assists to the Tamaraws’
11. That’s also an indicator of the willingness to share the ball. And it’s
good that Matt Nieto topped Ateneo with five assists; tied with the same number
for FEU’s Monbert Arong. That adds some solid playmaking from the one-spot; a
knock I pointed out early in the season.
Rebounding and defense. The Blue Eagles dominated the boards in the
first half and were outrebounded by six in the second half. Luckily for them,
they built a sizeable cushion to blunt FEU’s spirited rally. Nevertheless, the
51-48 advantage is still good considering the Tams have two very good
rebounders in Prince Orizu and Raymar Jose.
Take note that Ateneo is the only team in the league as of
this writing with three players who grab five or more rebounds. That’s
Chibueze Ikeh with 5.1 at the center position. Mike Nieto with 5.3 from the
power forward position, and Thirdy Ravena with 7.3 from the three-spot. Key
positions. And both Nieto and Ravena can bring down the ball.
Looking at the game stats, five
Blue Eagles hauled down at least five boards – Ravena, Ikeh, Isaac Go, Aaron
Black, and Vince Tolentino. Save for Isaac, the other four can bring down that
ball and that’s crucial to the faster-paced game.
FEU only had Orizu (16 rebounds)
and Jose (15 boards) taking down at least five.
The rebounds also helped Ateneo
best FEU in in second chance points in 12-6 and race out for a 9-3 advantage in
fastbreak points.
Some might say that the Tams’
fortunes went south after Orizu went to the bench late in the game because of
fatigue and their 16 missed free throws. I’ll agree to the former to an extent.
But Adrian Wong stuck a triple in front of Orizu before he went to the bench.
Furthermore, that shattered Ateneo’s drought.
Despite the poor play for long
stretches in the second half, it was the defense of Ateneo that prevented the
Tamaraws from overhauling what was a 23-point lead. For instance, Ateneo only
had 9 turnovers in the first half and gave up 12 in the second half. Yet FEU
conceded the points of turnovers advantage to Ateneo, 9-8.
And more importantly, Ateneo gave
up 30 fouls to FEU’s 22. Yet the Tamaraws were unable to capitalize on that as
they missed 16 huge free throws!
The faster-paced game. The fastbreak points are an indicator. But
that’s not all. When Ateneo slowed the game down, FEU’s defense held and the
turnovers mounted. That’s when FEU got back in the game.
Key players. I love the recognition of Adrian Wong in turning the
ball over to Thirdy Ravena. That’s good because Thirdy can drive and create.
Second, he took the higher percentage shot with Orizu on the bench. That’s two
drives and a dish to Isaac Go that broke the backs of FEU. Thirdy will be a
handful next season.
Isaac Go continues to impress. I
am a convert. Watching him in high school play in the NBTC and MMBL tourneys, I
wasn’t impressed one bit. I thought he was just a big and awkward kid who was
forced to play basketball. I would see Clint Doliguez (then with Hope Christian
High School) drive on him repeatedly and smaller guards swipe the ball away
from him the moment he put the ball on the floor. But Isaac has become really
fun to watch.
As good as a win as it was, it
served up quite a few lessons:
-
the team is still a work in progress but one
that is getting better,
-
there is a glaring need for a top big man
inside,
-
when the going gets tough for them the Blue
Eagles have a tendency to commit turnovers in bunches
-
and that if they slow the offense down they get
into trouble.
As for FEU, aside from the plus
stats for Ateneo, the poor play of their guards hurt them. Wendell Comboy who
played well in the first round encounter against Ateneo was a non-factor this
match. Jojo Trinidad and Axel Iñigo logged long minutes but didn’t score or
register an assist at all. They didn’t even get one steal collectively.
Two Tams who shoot the ball very
well (some of their best in field goal percentage) in Iñigo and Richard Escoto
didn’t do much. Iñigo missed all his shots although Escoto hit 3-6 shots.
But more than anything, FEU
missed 16 free throws! They only hit 20 of 36 attempts. The Blue Eagles on the
other hand nailed 14 of 16 free throw attempts.
It was the first back-to-back
loss for FEU this year. This loss was costly as they dropped to third despite
toting an 8-4 record; the same as Ateneo. And the Tams play La Salle this
Saturday.
Ateneo would like to solidify
their hold on second place when they face the ousted but no less dangerous UST
Growling Tigers also on this Saturday.
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