NCAA Season 93 Preview Part 2: LPU Pirates and AU Chiefs

NCAA Season 93 Preview Part 2: LPU Pirates and AU Chiefs

by rick olivares

Let’s get this out of the way, barring a meltdown of Chernobyl proportions, you have to award one Final Four (possibly even outright finals berth) to San Beda. So that means there are three slots that the rest of the nine-team field will have to fight for.

Who are the challengers? Let’s take a look at two of them.

Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates

Why they are challengers: The time is now. You can say that there’s a sense of urgency even if Wilson Baltazar and Edcor Marata are the only ones graduating. They’ve got a deep and talented team that is a rich blend of veteran talent and rookie potential. Championship windows are open for only so long. You aren’t really sure how long it will be open. Furthermore, why will you wait until San Beda’s young players mature even further? So you have to strike while the iron is hot.

They are no longer the slow and plodding team with clueless players. The Pirates have their veterans (Wilson Baltazar, Mike Nzeusseu, MJ Ayaay, Edcor Marata, and Raymar Caduyac), transferees (Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino, Ralph Tansingco, Spencer Pretta, and CJ Perez), and rookie (Rich Liwag). But this team will go 15-men deep. That’s the trust and faith that the coaching staff, led by Topex Robinson, has in this team.

They relentlessly trap on defense and they know only three speeds – fast, faster, and fastest. They push up the ball not waiting for opponents to set up their defense and attack. If you ask me, what has galvanized LPU’s offense is the arrival of the Marcelino twins (from Adamson) and CJ Perez (from Ateneo). Theirs is a seamless passing game that has rubbed off on the team. Their excellent court vision and basketball IQ allows them to create and punish defenses.

Yosi Tansingco’s ability to shoot from the outside means he spreads the floor making it easy for the rapidly improving Mike Nzeusseu to attack the interior. More to the three-point shooting, this team is built with the Golden State Warriors in mind – an uptempo offense with terrific passing, incredible perimeter shooting, and well, total team play.

More to the talent available, what makes this team go is the atmosphere of brotherhood that Robinson has instilled. These Pirates play with pride. They are proud of their school. They wish to rise from mediocrity, and they are hungry. Very hungry. Plus, they are well-coached. Those are the right ingredients for a title contending team.

Now, if they can keep the score close against San Beda then have a chance.

Arellano University Chiefs

Why they are challengers: They still have a deep and talented team with loads of big game experience.

What will it take to push them over the top? Kent Michael Salado stepping out of the shadows of Jiovani Jalalon and Lervin Flores getting out of whatever funk he is in.

During the summer, Salado, with skills and talent that can rival Jalalon (save for the moxie) oft deferred and passed the ball. Only later did he start to take control and when he did, Arellano started winning. And Flores’ waking up from La La Land also changed their fortunes. With the two, you have arguably the best at their position in the NCAA.

Now they also have a deep and talented team. Kraniel Villoria can play the 1-3 spots and he had a very good pre-season. Archie Concepcion is like a clone of Allen Enriquez – an inside and outside player who can be darn good on some days and the Invisible Man on others.  

Here though are the question marks – Brylle Meca seems lost in the shuffle and a different role (defensive stopper, really?). Zach Nicholls will also compete for the Invisible Man role as his game has gone south. He was this team’s missing link in the past two seasons – shooting blanks and totally missing the side of a building even if his life depended on it. When he isn’t scoring, he doesn’t do anything. That’s gonna hurt any chances of a pro career unless you are a phenomenal lights out shooter. Ariel Aguilar can help at the combo guard spot but when he keeps looking at head coach Jerry Codinera he gets lost.

If Elie Ongolo-Ongolo can stop being pangulo-pangulo and give solid back-up minutes he will keep Flores foul free and fresh. Look Flores cannot keep all of San Beda’s big men at bay (more so since Adam Gupilan packed his bags after not seeing much playing time during the summer). They have an entire platoon of rim protectors some who can shoot from the outside. While that means Enriquez, Concepcion, and Mike Cañete will have to help, they really aren’t post players or ones inclined to play inside.

I thought that Arellano has greatly struggled in the absence of Jalalon or to a certain extent, Dioncee Holts who was banished.

So this team is a wild card. How far they go depends on themselves. Do they put it all together? Or will they crash and burn effectively closing this team’s run that saw them make the finals in two of the last four years?

It will be interesting to find out.

NCAA Preview: Is the title a foregone conclusion for San Beda?

NCAA Preview: Is the title a foregone conclusion for San Beda?

by rick olivares

Okay, who is taking their title? It’s another season with the title all wrapped up even before tip-off.

Bilog ang bola, you say. Of course. The problem for all the other nine teams is that even if one player goes down, this team is as deep as the Marianas Trench. Their third unit could even start for another team. After you’ve gotten past the first five, you have to face their Replacement Killers.

So how do you defeat San Beda?

Well, you have to play the perfect game. Your bench has to come to the fore. Then you can nick a game here or there. As I have written so often in the past decade, that all changes in the play-offs. You can still take a game here and there but in a long and protracted series – good luck! Should a team take game one from them, then they have a chance.

Letran and San Sebastian did it, you say. Well, that is the exception rather than the norm. And it was the perfect storm. Could it happen this year? Sure. Lyceum has the talent and depth. But let’s see how they have learned from the butt kicking they received at the hands of San Beda during the pre-season that was so anti-climactic and a downer. Arellano could but let’s see if they can sort themselves out. They are their own worst enemy with their inconsistency.

In the pre-season, San Beda kicked serious butt with Davon Potts not playing well. With AC Soberano playing four fewer minutes than he did during the last NCAA season. And without Donald Tankoua!

The key to their incredible play is Robert Bolick Jr. who is performing on the level of a Kiefer Ravena or Jeron Teng. He is supremely confident. RBJ’s game though is more like Ravena – a two-way player who handles the ball, makes plays and makes stops. He is both their starter and closer. And even best defensive player on the perimeter.

His ascendancy has given opponents headaches because if they marked Soberano last year, now he’s even more open. His ability to get to the rim opens up the floor for San Beda. In the process, Arnaud Noah looks really good from al the open looks.

The Red Lions though aren’t all RBJ. There’s Jayvee Mocon who despite being all bulked up (somewhat losing his speed) is another weapon. Joe Presbitero’s heady play even during his rookie season has meant he has displaced Radge Tongco in terms of minutes.

There’s Potts, Noah, Soberano, and Clint Doliguez who can all light up a scoreboard. One or two of them may be off but all seven of their top guns? That is going to be the mother of all off nights.

As frightening as they are offensively and that tends to take all the glory, the unheralded facet of this team is their defense. They led the summer league as the top-ranked defensive squad. They’ve got quite a few rim protectors in Noah, Tankoua, Calvin Oftana, Benedict Adamos, and Kemark Cariño! They have good perimeter defenders in Bolick, Presbitero, and Potts.

And they can run or play half-court. Pick your poison.

Right now, the NCAA trophy is theirs to lose. And like the pre-season, they could go undefeated while at it too. If anyone is going to take it from them, they too will have to play the perfect season.

PVL Open Conference: BaliPure vs Power Smashers July 2, 2017

BaliPure: A character building win

by rick olivares

The BaliPure Purest Water Defenders opened the PVL Open Conference account with a thrilling come-from-behind five-set win over the Power Smashers (25-15, 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-6) last Sunday July 2 at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The game was once more a microcosm of their Reinforced Conference where they lost in the finals. BaliPure would race to take the first set, see their intensity drop, then rally. Luckily, this time, they won. In the last conference, they fell in Games One and Three after taking the opening frame.

It would be easy to say that the five-set win over a deeper Power Smashers team is a character-building win. Sure it is. However, the real character building games were the last finals because that was for a title. The team has already proven they can compete. The question is now – can they finish? Furthermore, this one – it’s good because a win is a win but you have to be concerned with their staying power, concentration, and nerve.

The operational word is “consistency”. The Purest Water Defenders got very good games out of Grethcel Soltones, Risa Sato, and Jerrili Malabanan. But that is what you want and expect of them. I think the crucial contributions of Aiko Urdas (15 points) and Irish Oliveros (3 points) propelled them to victory.

This was that game where help came from everywhere. Aside from the good play by liberos Lizlee Ann Pantone and Alyssa Eroa, Jasmine Nabor played well setting-wise and scoring wise (she finished with 8 points). Newcomer Abigail Noval played well in the spot duty (third set) she was sent in for.

Now if only Jorelle Singh and Macy Mendiola can help out.

It is good that team management kept this team together although they need an additional piece here and there to give them more options and weapons. They are still good enough to play for a championship. The question really is their consistency.

On Manny Pacquiao's loss to Jeff Horn

A loss for everyone

by rick olivares pic borrowed from SB Nation

With the unanimous decision loss to Jeff Horn, Manny Pacquiao has officially joined that list of athletes who hung around too long that their folly tarnishes their career.

No one will dispute that Pacquiao will be one of boxing’s greatest fighters even with an overall record of 59-7-2 with four of those losses coming in the last six years. However, he went from being in the discussion as the all-time best to now merely being one of the best.

The signs of slippage were there – the inability to put foes away was the most obvious. In his last 14 fights stretching all the way back to the 12^th round Technical Knockout of Miguel Cotto in 2009, only one did not go the distance and that was the sixth round loss to Marquez in 2012. Prior to that, in his first 56 fights, he only went the distance six times! He finished off almost every challenger who faced him before that.

Sure, he wielded some awesome punching power in these last 14 bouts but he couldn’t send them to La La Land. Furthermore, there was that upset loss to Timothy Bradley that was followed by a sensational knockout by Juan Manuel Marquez. And there was the unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Whether some of those losses were controversial or not, the “L” is on record. Conversely, some of the decisions that have gone his way could have also gone otherwise (Marquez has something to say about this). So it’s quits on this point.

Looking around, sports history is replete with athletes who didn’t know when to hang up their sneakers or in Manny’s case, their gloves. There’s a sports term for that – “Willie Mays falling in the outfield” that refers to the ageing baseball star losing the ball in the outfield… twice as he stumbled around. As for boxers who didn’t throw in the towel, there’s Roy Jones Jr., Marco Antonio Barrera, Hector Camacho, Sugar Shane Mosley, to name a few.

Ditching my objectivity for now, watching Manny climb to the summit of the sports world was every bit exhilarating and fun. The Philippines has always had its boxing world champions but no one came close to the caliber, achievements, and charisma of Pacman. He is the country’s first true global superstar. He gave honor to the country and everyone from this archipelago stood a little taller with their heads held up high.  

If you spoke to someone who didn’t know much about the Philippines, the starting talking point would be – you guessed it “Pacquiao” and I experienced that while working and living in the United States. Among my Mexican friends, they expressed great respect for Manny who knocked out or defeated many of their champions. It was a point to ponder, chat, or even bond.

As the knockouts lessened (although he still would put the hurt on many of his foes), it became a cause for concern. Here’s that vanity part where I am sure a great many other Filipinos and his fans outside myself wanted him to retire. While he had yet to taste a loss since the Erik Morales Trilogy. While he was on top of the world and a winner. And certainly not before he got old.

Four losses in the last several years later. There’s pain in my heart. It’s how I felt after watching Michael Jordan come back with the Washington Wizards. While MJ was still good, he wasn’t in His Airness state). And he didn’t reach his goal of leading the team to the play-offs that would have been like a championship in itself. Even worse, his team cut him in a most unceremonious fashion.

I can understand Manny’s wanting to fight “one more time”. The problem is when to know that the itch has been scratched. There’s always another fight to get ready for. One more foe to conquer; one more milestone to reach.

Yet now, after the loss to Jeff Horn, hopefully, he will earnestly consider retirement. He has other responsibilities that need attending (his job at the Philippine Senate for one). But knowing Manny, he’ll give it one more try to go out a winner.

We love and care for him that is why we’re distressed and conscious of his legacy. This loss isn’t only his but for every Filipino and fan who has rooted for him.

This loss will leave me shaking my head for about a week. Maybe more.