Tuesday, August 5, 2014

UAAP Rookie Watch Week 4

This appears on philstar.com

UAAP Rookie Watch Week 4
by rick olivares

It wasn’t a very good week for the UAAP rookies as their contributions fell all the way down from their usual numbers.

Adamson’s Ivan Villanueva had the best single game performance of the week for the newbies (in a loss to La Salle) but because he laid a big fat egg in the Falcons’ dubious record-setting loss to NU last Wednesday where they only scored 25 points, his totals got cut in half. But I suspect he couldn’t care less about his personal stats as the dubious record is infinitely more embarrassing.

That left Ateneo’s Arvin Tolentino to take our UAAP Rookie of the Week honors for a third consecutive week.

Here is how the freshmen performed for the week:

Arvin Tolentino (Ateneo)
5 points (1/10 FG) 5 rebounds 1 steal 2 TOs
Struggled against taller players again. It’s still a period of adjustment for him. But still a tremendous upside. Needs to hustle a little more back on defense though.

Henri Subido (UST)
5 points 1 rebound 1 assist 2 steals 3 TOS
Another player with a very good upside. Another Jeric Fortuna in the making? Needs to learn how to take care of the ball better though.

Thirdy Ravena (Ateneo)
4 points (2/6 FG) 5 rebounds
Finally showing signs of what he can do. Not worried at all. Remember older brother Kiefer’s seniors debut – he scored zero points. Thirdy will be just fine. They came in with a lot of hype and expectations. In contrast, their father Bong came into the league in 1988 with a little hype because there was a pre-season buzz about him. But that being the time before the internet, he came in without any pressure. And that helped him perform. He did strap that UE team on its back that was in its first year post-Jerry Codinera. The youngest Ravena boy will be fine.

Ivan Villanueva (Adamson)
4.0 points 2.5 rebounds 0.5 assists 0.5 steals 1.0 TOs 0.5 blocks (2 game average)
Honestly, reminds me of Allen Patrimonio (the Adamson Baby Falcon who went to DLSU for college) with his style of play. Like Tolentino, he struggles against taller players. But this will be a learning one for him. If he works on that medium range jumper of his, he will be a better player.

Rookies who look lost?

UP’s Diego Dario whose brilliant pre-season is now in the rearview mirror and Ateneo’s John Apacible who is clearly better than what he is showing.

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