UAAP Game Day Hoop Thoughts - Saturday Aug. 18

ADMU-UP 2nd Round Tiff
I don't recall a basketball season where a lot of games have been postponed because of the weather.

There's something in my gut that tells me that it monkeys around with a team's mindset.

Just a thought here, before Ateneo's last game against UE, they were supposed to play Adamson. But we all know now that the match versus the Falcons was moved. Now instead of getting a win and their confidence going against Jing Ruiz' squad (c'mon he's the real coach, not Bogs Adornado), the Blue Eagles had to play a tough match against the Red Warriors in which they lost.

On the flipside, last Thursday, UP was supposed to play UST. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if our friends from Maroon country got bamboozled by the Tigers, they'd be softened up for the Blue Eagles with only a day's rest to get that match out of their mind. As it is, everyone's had like a week or more to get some rest and any bad memories over ugly losses are in the back burner if only for bit.

So here's saying that the Maroons -- problems and all -- will play Ateneo hard. Hopefully, the Blue Eagles can escape the upset ax.

But then again, the weather's bad today, so maybe a re-set is in the offing.

DLSU
What's wrong with DLSU? I think the reason why there aren't killing teams the way they should be is, they expended a lot of energy in the pre-season when they won the Nike and FilOil leagues. I noticed while a lot of teams don't really go all out, the Green Archers really played them like their lives depended on it. Of course that's the proper mentality, but years down the road, those tourneys are only like the American NIT or whatnot -- who gives a flying you-know-what? It's the UAAP that matters. Not anything else like the Champions League, Fr. Martin, and that just awful Homegrown crap. What the hell does homegrown mean anyways? If you're looking at that, it's only ADMU (but their number of true blue players has significantly gone down), San Beda, and maybe UST that plays athletes who've come through the school system.

Getting people to change their mindsets is difficult but it can be done.

Look at how the English Premiere League came about after so many years of the Football League First Division (since 1888 if I am not mistaken). Then came 1992 when the EPL came into being that organized the league into what it is today. of course, it may have similar origins to the BAP-PBA split in the early 1970's too, but that really got people to recognize.

Ah, I've strayed from the Green Archers... looks like they've gotten banged up and all from the pre-season games. And if you ask me, those guys trained and played everywhere even (abroad) when they were suspended -- so much for going to class. But this is La Salle we're talking about. They're like a pro team in college hoops. They'll be getting their second wind this second round and the league should be worried. And if they do win the UAAP hoops crown, then they'll make mention of their pre-season triumphs. If not, the wags in their camp will point out that maybe they shouldn't have gone all out there.

One last note on pre-season training. Some thought that the Blue Eagles got their best training by going into the Abunazzar camp. I agree with that assessment just a teeny tiny bit. Because they way it looks right now, some Ateneo observers are right when they said -- in the pre-season -- that the best training they can get was by playing in the FilOil and Nike leagues with their full complement of Team A where they would have sized up the opposition as well. Although that works both ways, whatever aces Ateneo has been hiding hasn't come to play yet. But then again, there are six more games and Ford Arao and Jobe have been trump cards of sorts.

Officiating
Does the league review the referees and their officiating after each game? Do they sit down to watch game tape? Because I don't see to many significant changes because they still make the same lame and suspicious calls. And if you ask me, UST gets far too many favorable calls dating all the way to last year. That's not sour graping, effendi. If you take off your biased cap then watch the games intently, you'll see a lot of really questionable calls.

FEU
Isn't it amazing how the Tamaraws always manages to bring in the same type of player who can jack up a three, drive for a scoop, run the break and rebound like a pogo stick? Every other year, they bring in a player who they just plug in to take the slots vacated by guys like Anthony Williams, Andy de Guzman, Henry Padaong, Joe Francisco, Ronald Magtulis, Arwind Santos, RJ Rizada, and now their plethora of swingmen in JR Cawaling, Marnel Baracael, and the rest of their gang.

Amazing.


My thoughts as of 7am of Saturday morning.