Xavier beats Arellano U to barge into BBI U17 finals vs San Beda

Xavier beats Arellano to barge into the BBI U17 Finals vs San Beda

by rick olivares

Martin Sadhwani scored the game-winning lay-up against the Arellano University Junior Chiefs with five seconds to lead the Xavier Golden Stallions to a 66-64 squeaker and into the championship game of the 17-Under Division of the Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitationals IdolKo Philippine Cup.

It was a stunning loss for the Junior Chiefs who led for 39 minutes and 55 seconds in their semi-finals match against Xavier at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City last October 1. Arellano led by as much as 14 points and even as Xavier rallied, the Junior Chiefs looked to wrap up the match when they led 64-59 with 1:01 left to play.

However, Xavier displayed its fighting heart when they rallied for the win.

The Golden Stallions’ Gabriel Sytin hit two free throws with 47 ticks left to trim the deficit to three, 64-61. The Junior Chiefs Janlourd Nepomuceno missed a jumper but teammate Marc Paul Lopez corralled the offensive rebound. As Lopez went for a putback, he barged into Santiago Alandy-Dy and was whistled for an offensive foul.

In the Golden Stallions’ next possession, Alandy-Dy hit a triple to tie the match at 64-all with 18 seconds left. Arellano had another chance to seize back the lead or go for the win but Adrian Rellama missed an open jumper with 11 seconds left.

Xavier’s Darren Sytin pulled down the defensive rebound and spotted teammate Martin Sadhwani who was unguarded in the Golden Stallions’ side of the court. The graduating forward drove in for a lay-up with five seconds left and was fouled by Arellano’s JC Recto. Sadhwani missed the succeeding free throw but Arellano was unable to recover the loose ball much less attempt a desperation shot.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Junior Chiefs who dominated almost all statistical categories from rebounds, steals, blocks, points in the paint, and second chance points. Xavier one big advantage was its bench where Sytin and Sadhwani came off the bench to score 25 and 17 respectively. 

Brian Javier led Arellano with 13 points with Marc Paul Lopez and Christopher John Lopez adding 12 and 11 markers respectively.

The win propelled Xavier to the finals against top-rated San Beda this coming Sunday, October 8 at 2:30pm at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City. The San Beda team that will be playing in the finals will be taking over from the current Red Cubs Juniors team in NCAA play for next season.

Xavier’s 10-Under team will also be playing in the finals of the 10-Under Division against De La Salle Zobel at 1pm.

The Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitations IdolKo Philippine Cup is sponsored by Proline, GotDeals, sulit.ph, Spalding, Honda Greenhills, Compass, Team Rebel Sports, Mared Rubber and DTOP Socks.

Letran beats La Salle Antipolo for Breakdown Basketball hoops 14U crown

Letran beats La Salle Antipolo for BBI hoops 14U crown

by rick olivares

No way was Letran supposed to win this. The La Salle Antipolo Voyagers were not only too good but they looked imperious heading into the finals of the 14-Under Division of the Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitationals’ Idol Mo Philippine Cup at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City.

The Voyagers went undefeated heading into the finals, 8-0. They had top big man Enzi Cruz and league Most Valuable Player Ernest John Geronimo and they previously handled the Squires in the elimination round winning by six. If Letran was thought to have a chance to win, they would have to be on target from the outside, their traditional strength. La Salle Antipolo’s game was inside.

By game’s end, a shocking 64-56 win by Letran, it was the Squires who had their way inside. The Squires led by big man with an outside gunner’s name Ray Allen Maglupay battled LAA’s Cruz to a standstill scoring nine points to the latter’s 10 but won the rebounding battle 11-8. Alongside Squire power forward Ralp Angelo Cruz who scored 16 points, Letran outscored La Salle 42-40 inside the paint. That doesn’t sound much until you consider that the Squires shot 60% inside the paint to the Voyagers’ 43%. That was greatly helped by Letran’s 16-6 difference in fastbreak points where they resorted to the long pass when the Voyagers pressed.

“They got a lot of easy points,” lamented La Salle head coach Loel Nacolanga whose wards only tasted the lead once, at 2-0. However, almost immediately, Letran peppered the Voyagers with a steady stream of medium and long range shots by Bradley Palmes and inside points from Maglupay and Cruz.

The Voyagers came close late in the third period, 44-43, after a Joseph Espiritu trey. Letran’s Rich Hernandez who during the half time break endured a tongue lashing from head coach RJ Guevarra after a poor play earlier redeemed himself with a lay-up and a defensive gem on Espiritu in the next play that blunted La Salle’s momentum.

Rich Hernandez (#10) hangs his head after getting chewed out
by his coach. He redeemed himself later with some solid
play.

Letran raced to a 15-point lead late in the fourth period after another breakaway layup by Palmes, 64-49. Time down to 2:21. The Squires held on for the win.

“We stopped (John Rey) Guevarra from getting his shots,” said Nacolanga of the nephew of PBA player Rey Guevarra. “But the others hit big shots. And we were poor in our transition defense. The younger Guevarra who made the Mythical Five Selection finished with a mere three points.

Cruz led Letran with 16 points while Palmes added 14. Abanico chipped in 11 markers.

For La Salle Antipolo, Geronimo despite injuring his ankle late in the game topscored with 18 points. Cruz was the only other player in double figures with 10 markers as he only had nine field goals attempts due to the defense of Letran.

Named to the Under-14 Mythical Five Selection were Guevarra and Abanico from Letran, Geronimo and Cy Bularin from La Salle Antipolo, and Paul Arnaldo from Rich Golden Shower Montessori Center. Arnaldo was also adjudged the Best Defensive Player. Geronimo was also named Best in Assists.

Cruz was named the Finals’ Most Valuable Player.

In the 19-Under Division, the AMA Computer College Junior Titans crushed the English Christian Academy White Eagles 87-69 for the championship. The Junior Titans jumped on the White Eagles from the opening whistle leading by a whopping 26-8 after the first 10 minutes of play.

ECA made a game of it in the second half and sliced what was once an imposing 31-point lead to 12, 64-52 after two free throws by JR Dela Rosa. However, AMA responded with a 13-1 run that squelched any hopes for ECA.

AMA’s backcourt combo of Karl Bautista and Carl Garcia where just too much for ECA. The duo scored 26 and 24 points respectively while forward JC Ortega added 16 points.

Junnel Morecho led ECA with 14 while Dela Rosa added 13. The White Eagles’ usual gunners of Dave Boje, Wilbert Lauzon, and Marce Velasco were held to a combined 14 points.

Named to the U19 Mythical Five were UPIS’ Jaggie Gregorio, AMA’s Juan Carlo Garcia, LSGH’s Migo Asuncion and Tyrone Umali, and ECA’s Junnel Morecho. UPIS’ Polo Labao was named the Best in Defense while AMA’s Garcia was named Best in Assists and the Season MVP. AMA’s Bautista was awarded the Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

Coach RJ Guevarra of Letran with the trophy.

Al Riyadi are 2017 FIBA Asia Champions Cup Champions

One of my favorite basketball clubs has won its second FIBA Asia Champions Cup title! The last time they won it was in 2012 in Manila. 

The NU Bulldog’s learning curve

The NU Bulldog’s learning curve

by rick olivares

It finally happened… Jamike Jarin’s team – the National University Bulldogs -- took on the Ateneo Blue Eagles in a UAAP men’s basketball game. They huffed, puffed, fought, and clawed their way back but ultimately fell, 96-83, to fall to 2-4 with a match to play in this first round.

I am not sure if “bittersweet” is the word. Maybe it is. I know Jarin, who led the Blue Eaglets to eight juniors titles and was an assistant on five seniors champions teams, wanted the head coaching job post-Norman Black but the powers-that-be went with what they didn’t know as opposed to what they know. And they’ve got a bunch of Ateneans – Enzo Joson (Ateneo de Manila) and Rev Diputado and Dave Yu (Ateneo de Cebu) in their line-up.

This sounds weird but I assure you it isn’t – Jarin coached his best game of the season against Ateneo.

While JJ Alejandro kept his team in the fight for the first half, Joson, Tzaddy Rangel, and Jonas Tibayan were surprise performers. With center Issa Gaye in foul trouble, NU’s three-point shooting kept them in the fight. Except that Ateneo turned up the heat in the second half and answered every NU run with one of their own; every defensive stop with one or two of their own.

The Blue Eagles negated NU’s strength off the boards as well as their penchant for second chance points.

His Bulldogs are exactly where Ateneo was last season – a young and talented team learning the ropes of an intricate system. His San Beda Red Lions were in this position two seasons ago before they won it all last campaign. His NU team is stocked with talent but save for JJ Alejandro, Matt Salem, Dave Yu, and perhaps Reggie Morido, they didn’t see too much playing time before. Diputado has struggled with the new system and has seen his playing time greatly diminish.

Honestly, even before the start of the season, when people would ask me, I said that I didn’t think that NU is going to make it to the Final Four. Sure, they have talent. But also consider who they lost – Joshua Sinclair is out because of an injury while Meds Salim and JV Gallego are also being disciplined for team infractions. If they had those three guys, then they’d be much better because they are good players with experience. There’s a caveat there though – no experience in the hellacious defense that Jarin wants his team to employ. So it stands to reason they too would struggle. It is nice though to have some extra weapons on standby.

Having said that, this isn’t a Jamike Jarin team – a snarling, menacing squad that plays pedal-to-the-metal basketball.

When he first coached San Beda to their lost six-peat, that was a halfcourt squad that got confused with all the defensive schemes and quick play that Jarin espoused. It didn’t help that Baser Amer was injured and when he came back, rather than he adjusting to the speed in which they ran with Dan Sara, it was the reverse. Tit was one reason why they fell to Letran. The next year, the team Jarin put on the floor was to his vision and likeness. And they steamrolled over everyone en route to a title.

Jarin’s Blue Eaglets were the same – a squad that hounded foes from end-to-end then pounded them inside. Oh, yes, they had pace. They were clinical in their vivisection of opponents.

This year’s model of NU isn’t there. Yet. It is a shame they will lose Alejandro, Salem (who I believe is much better than what he is showing right now), and Dave Yu to graduation. This is where they soak in a lot of experience with these core gaining a lot of experience. Jordan Bartlett and Enzo Joson will be so much better. Chino Mosqueda will be this team’s version of Mike Nieto or SBC’s Joe Presbitero; a hustle guy who gets extra possessions, hits some big shots, and plays some great defense. And Tzaddy Rangel and Matt Aquino are showing glimpses of how good they could be. If you look at Aquino, he was totally lost during the pre-season. At least now, he’s getting more playing time and save for yesterday’s result against Ateneo, is mostly delivering.

If Reggie Morido and Nikko Abatayo can work on their medium range jumpers and be more consistent, then they could lead this team in scoring (especially the former who looks to become the primary scorer). And Issa Gaye will be so much better too.

So am I writing them off? Oh no. They are still a good team. They just lack big game experience in the seniors division. Who knows? Maybe they can still turn this season around. Alejandro has been nothing short of inspirational.

Maybe what I am getting at is people should understand their situation and much like last year (they also lost a bunch of veterans to graduation all the more leaving them with a young squad), adjust their expectations. Make no mistake, the bite will be back with these Bulldogs.