Wednesday's Fil Oil games

Tough guys. A friend asked me who was playing in yesterday's Fil Oil games and when I said it was CSB vs. Adamson, Perpetual Help vs. Letran, and NU vs. UE, he said, "Boring games."

Yan. Kasi alam mo lang puro Ateneo-La Salle. There is more to life than those games but if that's your choice then...

In case you haven't been watching the Soaring Falcons, they have been playing well with the ball whipping around like crazy to the open man. And who is the man this year? Alex Nuyles. Boy, did they cream the CSB Blazers yesterday 66-52 (the lead went as high as 28 points and went down only as CSB still had their starters in while Adamson was playing their third team in the finals minutes). Tough day at the office for Coach Richard del Rosario who was not pleased with his team's effort. I guess they forgot that there was the singing of the alma mater song of both squads after the game that they immediately went back to their locker room.

What went wrong? The Blazers' offense this year will be anchored on their guards. They were up against a much taller Adamson line-up that had four bigs and one small guy. How tough is that? And it sure is nice to see their long time Team B standout finally get a chance. This is William Stinnet who hit two treys and a layup for 8 points on top of grabbing 2 boards, dishing an assist and stealing once of the Blazers. The line seems pedestrian but that's not for someone off the bench more so since he plays tough tough defense.

But Alex Nuyles is the man. His teammates now go to him for the bailout or to take the shot. Nice slam by the way yesterday. That's what I get for babbling with CSLJ's Aloysius Taplah that I missed taking a picture of the dunk.

Speaking of Letran. The game against Perpetual Help. Think about it as two of the toughest guys on the block duking it out. If that "tough guy" tag used to be hung on the JRU Heavy Bombers, well, not anymore. Letran, under Louie Alas, has always been a tough team to play. While Perpetual Help now has the team (partially though) that Boris Aldeguer wants.

The game was a tough one to officiate (with the officials missing a lot of calls) from the start. The Knights' Raymond Almazan and UPHSD's Jefferson Vidal got into the action with some dagger looks and trash talking. I thought that Aldeguer's boys gave Letran a taste of their own medicine with their r/tough play that the Knights lost their composure. Jun Jun Alas nearly sent an opponent out of the court with a blocking foul after a perceived non-call. And the match-up between Jam Cortez and UPHSD's Marlon Gomez, who is cut from the same cloth as the aforementioned Knight, was something else. While both play the 4 and 5 spots 9 (but as under-sized centers), it is Gomez who is more powerful. And Cortez really couldn't get his game going as he was foiled several times inside (take a look at the picture I took that I posted above). The shot Cortez gave at the endgame was unwarranted (he threw a nasty elbow that grazed the head of an opponent). Had that connected a free for all would have broken out. Frank Dysam missed a layup at the end that would have sent the match into overtime. Aldeguer's team won 59-57.

On a different note, I also took a nice pic of Kevin Alas streaking towards the basket for a lay up -- he made the bucket -- to tie the game before UPHSD score two more on the opposite end for the wining points. I guess I'll be using it for Rebound.

Lastly, talking to NU's Kokoy Hermosisima yesterday, he said their 2-point win against Adamson was "chamba" lang. I said that the win was a manufactured one. And that the team was getting better all the time. And they showed it by beating the UE Red Warriors 57-53. A win in the final minute of play. The Bulldogs' main man stat line was 12 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.

Nice chatting with Joshua Webb who came to watch the games along with buddy Hyram Bagatsing. We're doing a short shoot for him this Friday at the Arena before La Salle's match.