Looking at some of the bread & butter plays of JRU and College of Saint Benilde in their match this Monday

When playing JRU, opponents know their main men are Philip Paniamogan, Jaycee Asuncion, and Michael Mabulac which is why defenses are geared towards stopping them. Other players like Teytey Teodoro, Jed Salaveria, Dave Sanchez, Nonoy Benavides, Marco Balagtas, Gio Lasquety, and Abdul Razakwahab have to step up too because that is the only way this team will win and go deep in this NCAA Season 90.

Lacking a tall guy to pound the ball inside, JRU opted to find the open man by passing the ball around with continuous movement and cutting.

Here is one of the plays JRU ran to free up the tightly-guarded Asuncion who either cuts along the baseline or the middle of the shaded area.

1 = Benavides

2 = Lasquety

3 = Asuncion

4 = Salaveria

5 = Mabulac

Option 1: Jaycee cuts along the baseline to see if his defender will follow. If he cuts along the baseline, he can run to the left corner where Benavides will find him for a three-point shot. If the shot isn't there, Jaycee will send the ball to Michael Mabulac down the post.

Option 2: Jaycee runs to the outside of the arc where he receives the ball. He tries to break down his man with a burst of speed. If a defender switches on him, he has the option of dropping to Mabulac for the trailer or who straddles the baseline or kicks out to Lasquety or Benavides for a trey.

Here's another simple play that JRU ran to devastating effect.

1 = Teytey Teodoro

4 = Jed Salaveria

5 = Michael Mabulac

Play: Teodoro whips the ball to Salaveria who is inside the arc, Teodoro runs behind him and it's like the four-man is setting a pick for a triple attempt. But in one motion, Mabulac who is outside the shaded area flashes in and Salaveria hits him with a pass and a layup.

Here's a play that has similarities to what the DLSU Green Archers run. But this one is a College of Saint Benilde staple.

1 = Luis Sinco

2 = Paolo Taha

3 = Mark Romero

4 = Jose Saavedra

5 - Roberto Bartolo

The play starts atop the three-point arc with Sinco on the right side, Romero at the center and Taha on the left.

Romero will get the ball and see if he can hit a cutter in the lane or if he should back his man down and hit a jumper or fadeaway. Or he can give the ball to Taha who can carve out the defense with a strong drive. If he is met in the middle Taha throws the ball to the corner where Saavedra can knock down a shot or he can drop to Bartolo who sneaked in for a drop pass or an undergoal stab. Or he can throw it back out to Romero who either takes a shot or barrels inside with the defense in disarray.

The problem with this play is that precious seconds are eaten away by Romero and Taha that by the time their go into attack mode the shot clock is winding down. The Blazers were whistled for two 24-second shot clock violations and one five-second inbound violation (not to mention Romero's four turnovers and Taha's one TO). Quite a few of their shots were taken under duress meaning the shot clock was winding down.

JRU arrested their two-game slide to open the season with a 69-61 win. CSB dropped its first assignment.

Key stat of the game: Three-point shooting!

JRU hit 7-21 to the 4-21 of CSB. While Paniamogan and Asuncion were mostly off from the outside, Teytey Teodoro and Nonoy Benavides hit one each in the fourth period that were huge. Teodoro also showed his moxie by not backing down from the physical guarding and shooting of Luis Sinco and Travis Jonson. Teodoro’s drive and up and under score with Bartolo guarding him was huge.