Killswitch Engaged
Ateneo 93 vs UP 75
story by rick / pics by rick and raddy
Ateneo 93 vs UP 75
story by rick / pics by rick and raddy
Tora Tora
“This is the game we wanted to play a month ago.”
The pre-game meeting of the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles had all the ambiance of a class in session. Norman Black stood in front of the white board and drew diagrams of situational plays – all on the defensive end – while asking his wards questions about the offensive patterns or the tendencies of their opponent the UP Fighting Maroons.
The attentive players chorused their answers or nodded in agreement about their responsibilities. There was no frat house banter. No war cries or promises of payback. But the Blue Eagles were incredibly loose. Perhaps they had become fully aware of their capabilities as a team. They have seen what they can do – choke the life out of opponents – when they needed to. Basketball is a simple game yet can be deadly serious business.
It was Team Manager Paolo Trillo who verbalized the game plan in one succinct sentence.
“This is the game we wanted to play a month ago,” he reiterated of that freak loss in the first round to Ateneo’s Katipunan neighbors. The Maroons, buoyed by rookie Moriah Gingerich’s reading of the Biblical story of David and Goliath, ambushed an Ateneo team that had let their guard down and romped away for their first win of the tournament that galvanized their campaign.
The Blue Eagles endured taunts from La Salle (and other schools) about the only blemish on their record. They didn’t need to engage in verbal sparring when they shut their foes up on the court. Besides the Greenies joined the Blues as being victims of the giant-killing Maroons in one season; proof that hey were a team on the rise and in need of a few more weapons to compete for the league title.
“That was enough motivation for us,” underscored Black of the match at hand as he wound up the briefing. “I want us to jump on them (UP) and show our killer instinct. We’re up against a team that doesn’t defend well on the transition. We run and attack. No let up.”
Ace of Spades
After Maroons forward-center Woody Co calmly drained two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in the first half to cut down Ateneo’s lead 47-29, Rabeh Al-Hussaini inbounded the ball by rolling the ball towards Eric Salamat who picked up the rock some 30 feet away saving a few precious seconds in the shot clock.
That was a mistake on UP’s part. They gave up 12 turnovers that the Blue Eagles parlayed into 19 points and by allowing Salamat to pick up the ball unchallenged… 6.9 seconds was an eternity of basketball to get a shot off. The Ateneo off guard sliced through the matador defense and laid the ball off the window for his 12 and 13th points of that match that gave Ateneo an imposing 49-29 lead. UP’s Carlo Gomez looked at his teammates and threw his arms up in a sign of helplessness.
Ateneo’s shifting man-zone and on-ball defense so thoroughly discombobulated the Maroons that they couldn’t find a rhythm all game long. Jai Reyes took on the challenge of stopping UP’s explosive rookie Mikee Reyes and his smothering defense stalled the Maroons’ attack. Their starting unit of Martin Reyes, Mark Lopez, Magi Sison, Carlo Gomez, and Reyes only mustered 12 points in the first half to Ateneo’s 38. The bulk of UP’s points came from trifecta range, the only available avenue to launch a shot but from even there they usually hand a hand in their face.
When the second half began, the Blue Eagles answered every UP barrage with one of their own. Just when the Maroons would hit a huge shot that they hoped would turn the tide in their favor, Ateneo countered with a withering fusillade of three-pointers as they finished the third quarter strong with a Ryan Buenafe trey at the buzzer to make it 76-51.
The Maroons’ braintrust noted that Ateneo’s Nonoy Baclao was unavailable for duty (as he was rested but ready to go if needed) so they attacked the interior. But they found the door shut as well with the spirited defense by Oping Sumalinog who started in Baclao’s place, Nico Salva, and Buenafe.
Even prior to the game, the team didn’t seem to be worried that their team captain would be unavailable as Black opted to give his sprained wrist more time to heal. “Rabeh,” calmly said the Blue Eagles’ head coach prior to tip-off. “You won’t have your sidekick ready today so I’m going to need you to step it up and hold the fort.”
Al-Hussaini nodded. “I’m ready.”
And so was the team. Although one might say the game was for all intents and purposes over in the first half, the Blue Eagles contained any of the Maroons’ adjustments during the third quarter and they were on cruise control in the final 10 minutes.
One of UP’s strengths was its outside shooting as they led the league in attempts. Although Ateneo took fewer shots from beyond the arc, they shot the three-ball better than anyone. Plus they were the number one free throw shooting team. Inside outside. Pick your poison.
The Blue Eagles were 11-28 (39.3%) from trey-land, 22-39 (56.4%) from two-point range, and at their best form at the stripe 16-18 (88.9%). Forty-two of their points came from the inside and they showed the Maroons that they too could be deadly from the perimeter.
Following a three-point shot, Martin Reyes’ last of the game, Rabeh Al-Hussaini answered with an and-one off a foul by UP’s Kevin Astorga that was followed by a drive by Ryan Buenafe. Reyes went to the bench shaking his head. “I tried,” he would say later. “But they (Ateneo) always had an answer. That is one very good basketball team.”
The Blue Eagles had their revenge, a 93-75 victory to give them a 12-1 record and chance to wrap up the number one seed when they play second-running FEU the following week.
Periscope
The game was momentarily put aside when UP point guard (and former Blue Eagle) Arvin Braganza ran up to the gallery to attend to his father who collapsed due to a medical condition. The two teams huddled separately in prayer and the galleries politely applauded when the father was taken out on a stretcher to be brought to the hospital.
During the singing of the alma mater, the two schools, with many of its sons and daughters crossing over from one end of the Katipunan to another, applauded and cheered. Seven on the Maroons’ side have blue blood in their veins – Mikee Reyes, Mike Gamboa, Miggy Maniego, Arvin Braganza, assistant coach Potit de Vera, and team managers Jay Castro and Bert Mendoza.
When asked by sportswriters about the blowout, Black calmly explained that the team should be hitting its stride. “No team in the league is a pushover. You see what a team like UP can do on any given day – they beat us and La Salle and they’ve been a handful for many of the other teams. And wins like this are good because you want to keep it up heading into the Final Four.”
This was the game they wanted to play a month ago and this is where they wanted to be at this time of the season.
Ateneo 93 – Salamat 23, Reyes 18, Al-Hussaini 16, Monfort 9, Salva 8, Long 7, Buenafe 5, Sumalinog 4, Gonzaga 2, Austria 1, Tiongson 0, Golla 0, De Chavez 0, Chua 0, Burke 0
UP 75 – Reyes Martin 21, Braganza 13, Padilla 10, Co 8, Sison 4, Gingerich 4, Astorga 4, Lopez 3, Hipolito 3, Gamboa 3, Maniego 2, Reyes Mikee 0, Marfori 0, Juruena 0, Gomez 0, De Asis 0
“This is the game we wanted to play a month ago.”
The pre-game meeting of the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles had all the ambiance of a class in session. Norman Black stood in front of the white board and drew diagrams of situational plays – all on the defensive end – while asking his wards questions about the offensive patterns or the tendencies of their opponent the UP Fighting Maroons.
The attentive players chorused their answers or nodded in agreement about their responsibilities. There was no frat house banter. No war cries or promises of payback. But the Blue Eagles were incredibly loose. Perhaps they had become fully aware of their capabilities as a team. They have seen what they can do – choke the life out of opponents – when they needed to. Basketball is a simple game yet can be deadly serious business.
It was Team Manager Paolo Trillo who verbalized the game plan in one succinct sentence.
“This is the game we wanted to play a month ago,” he reiterated of that freak loss in the first round to Ateneo’s Katipunan neighbors. The Maroons, buoyed by rookie Moriah Gingerich’s reading of the Biblical story of David and Goliath, ambushed an Ateneo team that had let their guard down and romped away for their first win of the tournament that galvanized their campaign.
The Blue Eagles endured taunts from La Salle (and other schools) about the only blemish on their record. They didn’t need to engage in verbal sparring when they shut their foes up on the court. Besides the Greenies joined the Blues as being victims of the giant-killing Maroons in one season; proof that hey were a team on the rise and in need of a few more weapons to compete for the league title.
“That was enough motivation for us,” underscored Black of the match at hand as he wound up the briefing. “I want us to jump on them (UP) and show our killer instinct. We’re up against a team that doesn’t defend well on the transition. We run and attack. No let up.”
Ace of Spades
After Maroons forward-center Woody Co calmly drained two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in the first half to cut down Ateneo’s lead 47-29, Rabeh Al-Hussaini inbounded the ball by rolling the ball towards Eric Salamat who picked up the rock some 30 feet away saving a few precious seconds in the shot clock.
That was a mistake on UP’s part. They gave up 12 turnovers that the Blue Eagles parlayed into 19 points and by allowing Salamat to pick up the ball unchallenged… 6.9 seconds was an eternity of basketball to get a shot off. The Ateneo off guard sliced through the matador defense and laid the ball off the window for his 12 and 13th points of that match that gave Ateneo an imposing 49-29 lead. UP’s Carlo Gomez looked at his teammates and threw his arms up in a sign of helplessness.
Ateneo’s shifting man-zone and on-ball defense so thoroughly discombobulated the Maroons that they couldn’t find a rhythm all game long. Jai Reyes took on the challenge of stopping UP’s explosive rookie Mikee Reyes and his smothering defense stalled the Maroons’ attack. Their starting unit of Martin Reyes, Mark Lopez, Magi Sison, Carlo Gomez, and Reyes only mustered 12 points in the first half to Ateneo’s 38. The bulk of UP’s points came from trifecta range, the only available avenue to launch a shot but from even there they usually hand a hand in their face.
When the second half began, the Blue Eagles answered every UP barrage with one of their own. Just when the Maroons would hit a huge shot that they hoped would turn the tide in their favor, Ateneo countered with a withering fusillade of three-pointers as they finished the third quarter strong with a Ryan Buenafe trey at the buzzer to make it 76-51.
The Maroons’ braintrust noted that Ateneo’s Nonoy Baclao was unavailable for duty (as he was rested but ready to go if needed) so they attacked the interior. But they found the door shut as well with the spirited defense by Oping Sumalinog who started in Baclao’s place, Nico Salva, and Buenafe.
Even prior to the game, the team didn’t seem to be worried that their team captain would be unavailable as Black opted to give his sprained wrist more time to heal. “Rabeh,” calmly said the Blue Eagles’ head coach prior to tip-off. “You won’t have your sidekick ready today so I’m going to need you to step it up and hold the fort.”
Al-Hussaini nodded. “I’m ready.”
And so was the team. Although one might say the game was for all intents and purposes over in the first half, the Blue Eagles contained any of the Maroons’ adjustments during the third quarter and they were on cruise control in the final 10 minutes.
One of UP’s strengths was its outside shooting as they led the league in attempts. Although Ateneo took fewer shots from beyond the arc, they shot the three-ball better than anyone. Plus they were the number one free throw shooting team. Inside outside. Pick your poison.
The Blue Eagles were 11-28 (39.3%) from trey-land, 22-39 (56.4%) from two-point range, and at their best form at the stripe 16-18 (88.9%). Forty-two of their points came from the inside and they showed the Maroons that they too could be deadly from the perimeter.
Following a three-point shot, Martin Reyes’ last of the game, Rabeh Al-Hussaini answered with an and-one off a foul by UP’s Kevin Astorga that was followed by a drive by Ryan Buenafe. Reyes went to the bench shaking his head. “I tried,” he would say later. “But they (Ateneo) always had an answer. That is one very good basketball team.”
The Blue Eagles had their revenge, a 93-75 victory to give them a 12-1 record and chance to wrap up the number one seed when they play second-running FEU the following week.
Periscope
The game was momentarily put aside when UP point guard (and former Blue Eagle) Arvin Braganza ran up to the gallery to attend to his father who collapsed due to a medical condition. The two teams huddled separately in prayer and the galleries politely applauded when the father was taken out on a stretcher to be brought to the hospital.
During the singing of the alma mater, the two schools, with many of its sons and daughters crossing over from one end of the Katipunan to another, applauded and cheered. Seven on the Maroons’ side have blue blood in their veins – Mikee Reyes, Mike Gamboa, Miggy Maniego, Arvin Braganza, assistant coach Potit de Vera, and team managers Jay Castro and Bert Mendoza.
When asked by sportswriters about the blowout, Black calmly explained that the team should be hitting its stride. “No team in the league is a pushover. You see what a team like UP can do on any given day – they beat us and La Salle and they’ve been a handful for many of the other teams. And wins like this are good because you want to keep it up heading into the Final Four.”
This was the game they wanted to play a month ago and this is where they wanted to be at this time of the season.
Ateneo 93 – Salamat 23, Reyes 18, Al-Hussaini 16, Monfort 9, Salva 8, Long 7, Buenafe 5, Sumalinog 4, Gonzaga 2, Austria 1, Tiongson 0, Golla 0, De Chavez 0, Chua 0, Burke 0
UP 75 – Reyes Martin 21, Braganza 13, Padilla 10, Co 8, Sison 4, Gingerich 4, Astorga 4, Lopez 3, Hipolito 3, Gamboa 3, Maniego 2, Reyes Mikee 0, Marfori 0, Juruena 0, Gomez 0, De Asis 0
My deepest condolences to the Braganza family. Mr. Agapito Braganza suffered a heart attack at 2am. I was informed that the wake might be at St. Vincent's in Tandang Sora. Man... I don't know what to say.
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