NCAA Season 91: Breaking down JRU's win over CSB

Growing confidence: The JRU Heavy Bombers after a slow start are finding their groove. With the wins come the smiles.

Breaking down JRU’s 67-49 win over CSB

by rick olivares

The first quarter saw both squads change leads several times. It took JRU a while to get execute their plays as they were missing points, some of them point blank stabs. CSB meanwhile was playing solid defense. But that will only get you so far when you can’t put points on the board. With Raphael Nayve and Jonathan Grey unable to get going because of some terrific defense on them and poor play between themselves, the Blazers crumbled. Fons Saavedra and JR Ongteco did their best to keep their side in the game but the rest of the team hardly did anything.

That’s going to be difficult when you go up against a squad like JRU that runs precise sets and keeps to their system.

If JRU can run they will. If there is no opportunity to run they either pound it inside to Abdel Poutouchi or look for Teytey Teodoro or Paolo Pontejos to score or create. They run different sets depending on whether it is Poutouchi or Abdul Abdulwahab inside.

How did they get this win to give them a 4-2 record?

They ran their sets to near perfection

Option 1: Give the ball to Poutouchi who posts up with his back to the basket. He spins to his right for a pull up shot, a hook or a drop pass to Darius Estrella (or John Grospe or Jordan dela Paz) who cuts from the baseline.

Option 2: If the defense on Poutouchi is resolute, he will wait for Estrella to cut to the opposite side for either a hand off and an open shot or Teodoro will quickly cut from where he is stationed outside the arc for a bounce pass and a layup.

Option 3: Mark Cruz throws the ball in from the top of the free throw line to either Poutouchi or Abdulwahab. Sometimes, if it is Gio Lasquety or even Marco Balagtas in the position, they will throw a floater or attempt a jumper.

Their 1-2-2 press badly hurt CSB’s execution

JRU head coach Vergel Meneses sprung his trap around the eight-minute mark of the second period. The score was 18-15, JRU at that point. From the time that Saavedra turned the ball over at the onset of the press, the Heavy Bombers fed off the turnovers and uncorked a crippling 21-7 run that all but ended the game.

Surprisingly, JRU gave up the press at the start of the third and that sort of surprised CSB as the Heavy Bombers opened with an 8-2 spurt. When CSB tried one last rally in the fourth, JRU sprung their press again and that ended the Blazers’ threat.

JRU doesn’t have the best rim protectors but they do play stifling defense.

The Heavy Bombers’ post up threat

Abdel Poutouchi didn’t have the best game as he finished with seven points and five rebounds because of the double and triple teaming that he saw. He did manage four assists though. Even Abdulwahab dropped a nifty dime to a baseline cutter.

Almost every Heavy Bomber scored

Only Gio Lasquety and Darius Estrella failed to score a point. But they chipped in through some other stats. While Paolo Pontejos is oft in Meneses’ doghouse (I feel the former is underappreciated but gets chewed out for drifting into a me-first mode).

I like how Meneses has shown faith in power forward Mark Cruz who he starts and in the last two matches – both of them wins – sends his player in with six minutes to play. And Cruz finishes the game. He can play good defense. He can pass and can score too. He just has to make better decisions inside on whether to tap the ball to himself or to a teammate and not picking up his dribble when he crosses halfcourt.

Teytey Teodoro exploded again

Twenty-one points! Eight rebounds with two assists and three steals (minus two turnovers) in 26 minutes. Talk about efficiency and effectiveness. AS JRU struggled to put points on the board at the start of the game, he was there. Come the third period, he scored the first three baskets for JRU. When CSB tried to rally, he doused their fire.

The lad just gets better and better.

What must CSB do to get back on the winning track?

Ongteco must be more consistent inside. He has to realize that throwing jumpers from the outside isn’t going to help. The rebound disparity was terrible – 42-26, JRU. How are you going to win when you’re getting beaten on the boards? The result? Only two second chance points. Christian Fajarito could help. He just needs to be more discriminating in his shots and start off my playing defense.

Saavedra must cease giving up silly fouls because he is too an important player to be sitting on the bench.

While it Grey needs to score, he along with Nayve must create for their teammates. That should make life a little easier for them.

They do not have any interior defense so they should deny that entry pass.

Rather than settle for outside shots, they should attack that basket.