Ateneo beats FEU in the UAAP Season 81 Final Four: Goodbye to the sledgehammer and the crowbar.

Goodbye to the sledgehammer and the crowbar.

by rick olivares pic by joseph nocos

This is like a best-of-five series between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the Far Eastern University Tamaraws in the UAAP Final Four dating back to Season 78 with the former taking it, 3-1.

The core of this team met in Season 78 with Mac Belo’s tip sending FEU to the finals (which they won over UST).

They met again the next season with FEU upending Ateneo in Game One of the Final Four. In Game Two, Isaac Go scored on a putback to lift the Blue Eagles to a 69-68 win in overtime that sent Ateneo to the finals.

In Season 80, Isaac Go once more played the hero with his triple to send Game Two of their semis series with FEU into overtime where he tag-teamed with Matt Nieto for an 88-84 win to enter the finals.

So what does the sledgehammer and the crowbar have to do with all of this.

It was after Game Two of the Season 79 Final Four where Tab Baldwin quipped, “You cannot separate these two teams with a sledgehammer and a crowbar.”

And following the 80-61 demolition of FEU in Game One of the Season 81 Final Four where the Blue Eagles led by as much as 31 points, I guess we can all throw out that sledgehammer and crowbar.

There were a few players on FEU’s 2010 squad present – RR Garcia, Terrence Romeo, Achie Iñigo, Roger Pogoy, and Gryann Mendoza – at the Smart Araneta Coliseum for the Final Four match between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the Tamaraws. That was Season 73 in case you want to put it in UAAP terms.

Perhaps for the former Tams, it was déjà vu all over again.

In 2010, they defeated Ateneo in the first and last games of the elimination round. They were making all sorts of noises about unseating the Blue Eagles when they met in the finals.

Except Game One, didn’t go quite as planned. The Tams were crushed in Game One, 72-49, with Emman Monfort putting the clamps on the newly-minted league MVP, RR Garcia. In Game Two, Ryan Buenafe’s killer three lifted the Blue Eagles to a pulsating 65-62 win for the three-peat.

And now, the blue and white juggernaut is back in the finals and is two wins away from annexing the crown.

Just as they did during Game One of the 2010 title game, Ateneo played flat out great defense. The Tams hardly had daylight. The glimmer of hope came early after Ken Tuffin and Arvin Tolentino hit triples from either side of the corner pocket to slice Ateneo’s lead, 10-6. But that was it.

Only four players did well shooting-wise. Barkley Eboña (3/4), LJ Gonzales (3/3), Alec Stockton (2/3), and Arvin Tolentino (2/4). But even that is misleading. Tolentino was shut down and battled foul trouble. Furthermore, he doesn’t take four shots a game. He takes much more than that so four field goal attempts isn’t what FEU had in mind. Stockton was thrown out for a disqualifying foul. As for Eboña, more on him later.

FEU was held to an average of 12 points for the first three quarters. They only did well in the fourth when Ateneo emptied its bench.

Ateneo repeatedly attacked that basket with Thirdy Ravena setting the tone with back-to-back dunks.

The ball movement was superb and the offense – at least for the first 33 minutes – was devastating. And for the most part, Ateneo didn’t step off the gas pedal (well, until the bench didn’t perform well late in the game). Tone and pace of the game aside, I was puzzled by some of FEU’s moves.

I was surprised that Eboña played only 16 minutes. He gave Ateneo fits early in the game. Why didn’t he play alongside with Orizu who was mostly ineffective (well, he just got back from an injury and isn’t 100%)? Why was Orizu sent to the bench when Angelo Kouame went to the bench? I thought that he should have stayed in the game because they sorely needed to reduce that deficit.

I know Jasper Parker struggled but in a game like this, I would unleash him and all their veterans. But of course, that is just me.

Other than the great defense, I have some quibbles.

I think the bench wavered. When the starters were off the court, FEU pressed (they don’t press much when Matt Nieto is on the court). I know they should be ready whatever the circumstance (the rotation usually gets shorter come the bigger games) and it was a bit surprising to see them not rise to the challenge.

Having said that, maybe Tab Baldwin can keep some of the starters on the court with the bench players -- and he did this at some point when he brought back Thirdy Ravena into the game to help the bench out. That would help them out. I do not mean to tell the coach how to do his job, after all, he knows much more. But just to illustrate, previously, either Greg Slaughter or Kiefer Ravena were on either on the court together or would alternate to backstop the team.

And what is it with all those double fouls. How can there be so many double fouls? Did both fouls occur at the same time? I don’t get that at all.

Nevertheless, Ateneo is back in the finals while FEU will have to rebuild as they are losing Tolentino, Orizu, Richard Escoto, RJ Ramirez, and Axel Iñigo. I think Prince has a year to go but I am not sure if he will play this out. It was also sad to see that Tolentino had to be on the losing side and I appreciate his thank you to the Ateneo crowd. Like his teammates, I wish them well in the next stage of their lives.

Next up, is winning the title against either Adamson on UP. Can we use that sledgehammer on either of them? We’re going to find out.