Round One UAAP Season 70
by Rick Olivares
August 4, 2007
Cuneta Astrodome, Manila
photo by Miggy Mendoza
Stick and jab. Stick and jab. Like two boxers who knew each other so well, the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the UST Growling Tigers circled around each other for three quarters. They’d get their licks in and then take some.
The two teams who waged a battle for the ages last year’s basketball crown weren’t seeded to win this year. That’s fine. Walk small but carry a big stick. There’s less pressure anyway. And for the Blue Eagles and the Growling Tigers, they picked up from where they left off in Game Three of last year… intense, give no quarter hoops.
That is until one incandescent eight-minute scoring spree by the defending champs who served notice to UE, DLSU, or any other school, that the road to the Season 70 crown will have to go through Espana.
Chris Tiu doesn’t like the Cuneta Astrodome. If they never have to play in there again that suits him just fine. Maybe it’s mental, but for now, the rims are unfriendly. But he knows that’s no excuse. Tirelessly guarded by the much taller Dylan Ababou and Khasim Mirza all afternoon, the Blue Eagles’ skipper once more struggled from the field making only 3 of 12 shots. With Jai Reyes likewise manacled and Ford Arao and Rabah Al-Husseini in foul trouble, it was up to the unlikely quartet of Eric Salamat, Zion Laterre, Jobe Nkemakolam, and Nonoy Baclao to carry the fight to UST.
Eric Salamat had his best game of the year as he scored a team high 15 points mostly on a series of gutsy drives to the basket. Nonoy Baclao tried his best to battle UST center Jervy Cruz inside the paint. In his best all-around performance so far, Baclao finished with 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Jobe Nkemakolam finally broke into double-digit scoring with 10 markers but only 5 boards; three less than his average. Team Co-Captain Zion Laterre, free of the back spasms that have plagued him lately, was his usual jumping jack self. The Australian, who is in his final playing year, scored a personal best 13 points while pulling down 11 boards and rejecting a couple of errant UST shots. On his way to the dugout after the game, a dejected Laterre said he’d gladly trade all those stats for a W.
Now at 4-3 to close its first round campaign, that jarring loss to FEU has now come back to haunt Ateneo. Depending on the results of the final playing day of the first half of the season, the Blue Eagles will probably finish fourth. With UST rejuvenated and FEU rediscovering its winning ways, the scramble is on for the second seed given UE’s hitherto unblemished slate.
UST’s game plan was nothing different from last year’s. They didn’t need to be possessed by the spirit of Jojo Duncil to stroke daggers. UST Coach Pido Jarencio threw wave after wave of tall shooting guards and small forwards who could post up or hit the three. Frosh swingman Khasim Mirza, at a wiry 6’5 has been his team’s x-factor this year. Cracking Jarencio’s starting unit, he has caused all sorts of match-up problems against other teams.
And after Eric Salamat put Ateneo on top (for the final time) 63-62 on a lay-up to open the fourth quarter scoring, Mirza hit a three on the other end that opened the floodgates. While the Blue Eagles hit a drought, UST was smoking as they went on an 18-0 run that broke the game wide open.
Tiu, Salamat and Laterre tried to bring Ateneo back by scoring nine points to bring down 72-84 but time had run out on the boys in white. With 35 seconds left, Mirza put an exclamation point to his team’s superb high-energy game when he hit a trey over Tiu.
Salamat would close out the scoring with another lay-up. 74-87.
First half scouting report by author:
UE’s unbeaten slate notwithstanding, the season so far has been every bit as tough as expected. The only surprise being UP’s winless slate. For the Blue Eagles, the team must take heart that they’ve now sized up the competition and there’s time to make adjustments. We have what it takes to compete with everyone. It’s just maximizing the strengths and playing to their full potential while minimizing those ugly and terrible turnovers.
In the previous two years, the Blue Eagles did well during the eliminations only to falter come Final Four time. In some weird way, it’s good the team knows that a lot has to be worked out. Maybe this time it will serve us well when the games and the W’s matter.
The opposition’s gameplan has been very simple so far – stop Chris Tiu and let the untried players with not much big time college hoops experience under their belt beat them. The team plays a down-tempo game anchored on the guards’ ability to break down the defense. It’s time to get our slashers like Ken Barracoso, Kirk Long, Eric Salamat, and Zion Laterre to take the fight to the inside and to ease the load on Tiu. If the offense is decentralized and the opponents don’t key in on Tiu, then that’s when he’s going to burn them. It’s hard watching the offense grind to a halt as the forwards go out to set picks. I’m sure they’re supposed to slide in but that doesn’t always mean they’ll get good positioning for a rebound or for a lay-up.
We don’t have the fastest or most mobile low post players so the ball should be whipped around quick so that Ford Arao, Rabah Al-Husseini (who should work better on his defense), and Jobe Nkemakolam would find it easier to plant themselves closer to the basket.
The second round is around the corner. And if the first seven games were hotly contested then the final seven will surely be trench warfare.
Prognosis: Same as during my pre-season team preview – Final Four. Once they make it there, let’s talk again.
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