On Ateneo’s win over NU and looking at the passing

On Ateneo’s win over NU and looking at the passing

by rick olivares

The Ateneo Blue Eagles picked up two huge wins over the past week including the 79-64 win over the National University Bulldogs who bowed out of Final Four contention with the loss.

I’d like to point out a few things during Ateneo’s win.

The twin double doubles by Thirdy Ravena and Angelo Kouame.

Thirdy finished with 23 points and 12 boards while Kouame had 19-17. That was a monster tag-team combination. And between the two of them, they had seven blocks!

The excellent substitution.

This one is dicey. Some players enter and get the job done; some don’t. In this game, everyone got something done with regards to the overall result and effort. Coach Tab Baldwin sent in 14 players (the Nieto brothers were on the bench but chalked up a DNP-CD) and everyone contributed to the stat sheet and not necessarily in points.

With Matt Nieto unavailable for the past four matches, Tyler Tio picked up the slack and gave a very good account of himself. SJ Belangel has played better but this game was his best of his rookie year so far as he tallied 11 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds against zero turnovers. Tyler hit a big triple and had 4 assists although he did commit his first two turnovers since he began to start. Still not bad. Tyler might have not scored a lot, but he was still a stabilizing presence on the court.

Adrian Wong was solid in this game. Not huge numbers, but he was steady and more sure of himself. Here’s to him continuing that.

Gian Mamuyac continues to provide quality minutes. And even the BJ Andrade cameo was noteworthy.

Some might note that Anton Asistio has struggled to score in the past two games for Ateneo. He hasn’t had too many looks as opposing teams try to shut him down. Jolo Mendoza played well against UE and versus NU, in spite of missing 21 shots from the three-point arc, Ateneo continued to pound the Bulldogs from the inside.

With Ateneo shutting down the interior of NU, the Bulldogs had no choice but to shoot from the outside.

Ateneo pummeled NU inside 42-18 with Issa Gaye and Troy Rike pretty much rendered non-factors.

The outside shooting of NU prevented the game from being a massive blowout. NU hit six treys in the second half with John Lloyd Clemente dropping three, Dave Ildefonso nailing two, and Dave Yu adding one.

This was the first game where Ateneo got burned from the outside but they still managed to win this season. Well, that is because they posted a huge halftime lead and were able to answer most of NU’s second half runs. However, I should say that in the last two games, UE and NU scored more than they did in the second half. So there is that huge first half cushion and stepping off the gas pedal.

A note on the total team passing.

Now, in the last two games, I wanted to keep track of the passing. It doesn’t correlate to much except that Ateneo really tries to look for the open man. Does it mean they score more? Not necessarily as sometimes, they take shots with the shot clock winding down. And that isn’t always the best shot.

Again, it doesn’t correlate to anything, but it is an interesting thing to look at. Here it is.

Ateneo vs NU passes

	Total Passes	Points Scored	FG%	Turnovers
1st Qtr	68	22	40%	3
2nd Qtr	56	25	50%	3
3rd Qtr	47	18	44%	3
4th Qtr	72	14	22%	0

NU vs Ateneo passes

	Total Passes	Points Scored	FG%	Turnovers
1st Qtr	42	11	17%	4
2nd Qtr	60	14	40%	5
3rd Qtr	52	22	40%	3
4th Qtr	54	17	37%	4

How about the UE game?

Ateneo vs UE passes

	Total Passes	Points Scored	FG%	Turnovers
1st Qtr	71	29	52%	4
2nd Qtr	77	28	38%	11
3rd Qtr	86	16	35%	6
4th Qtr	52	17	43%	5

UE vs Ateneo passes

	Total Passes	Points Scored	FG%	Turnovers
1st Qtr	57	15	41%	6
2nd Qtr	59	9	54%	7
3rd Qtr	37	27	71%	4
4th Qtr	45	19	42%	3

How did UE score more points on fewer passes? Quick strikes and fastbreaks. Take note that Ateneo sent in its bench and struggled.

What is still interesting is how Ateneo really moves that ball around finding teammates in the best possible position to score.

A much needed splash for Philippine football

A much needed splash for Philippine football

by rick olivares

Philippine National Football Team manager Dan Palami announced the other day the appointment of Sven Goran Eriksson as head coach of the Azkals.

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, Eriksson, the former England boss, signed a six-month contract that will cover the Philippines’ Asian Cup stint for 2019.

Eriksson who hails from Sweden has managed the national teams of England, Mexico, and most recently, Ivory Coast. He has worked in nine countries with the Philippines being his tenth. The Swede has won honors on his home soil, Portugal, Italy, and an individual honor in England. He last worked in China where he was with Guangzhou R&F, Shanghai SIPG, and Shenzen (2017).

After German-American coach Thomas Dooley’s contract was not renewed in March of this year, three others were named to helm the Azkals’ matches including Englishman Terry Butcher who never got to be in charge of a single game.

I think the appointment is good but it could have been better.

To have a high profile coach who has guided top squads is good. But what can one do in six months? Maybe that was his stipulation. Nevertheless, I will take it.

Football might have dropped off the radar of Philippine sports, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t thriving. It is. It does need a push though.

Eriksson will drive interest; wins by the Philippines will do even more.

And there’s goalkeeper Neil Etheridge who is the starting net minder for Cardiff City in the English Premier League.

I remember when Neil first came over and took Louie Casas’ spot at the goal during the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers against Brunei. I was with Solar Sports at that time, and we broadcast the Azkals’ matches during those days. Neil was a massive presence at goal. Not only size-wise, but he commanded the defense very well. Plus, he finished with three clean sheets. Not bad. And he has played 61 international caps and counting for the national side.

When he was named as a substitute for Fulham second keeper David Stockdale who went down with an injury prior to a match against Wolverhampton – an official Premier League match -- it was neat moment for Etheridge. As good as it was to be on the team sheet, Etheridge said back then, he did wish though that he got to play. That came in the 2011-12 season when he played for Fulham in a Europa League match.

Neil gave me a Fulham jersey of his with the proper Premier League badges and to this day, it is one of my most prized possessions.

Things sort of wavered in terms of cracking a Premier League slot as he bounced around Bristol Rovers, Crewe Alexandra, Oldham Athletic, Charlton Athletic, and Walsall.

It was with Welsh club Cardiff City where Neil made a huge impact as he played in 45 of 46 matches during the 2017-18 Championship season that saw the Bluebirds, as the team is nicknamed, promoted to the Premier League! Neil kept 19 clean sheets and only conceded 37 goals that year!

After years of waiting… Neil was in the Premier League! Furthermore, he was named as a candidate for Premier League Player of the Month of August after stopping two penalties and making nine saves. He was nominated alongside Chelsea’s Marcus Alonso, Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk, Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy, Tottenham’s Lucas Moura, and Watford’s Roberto Pereya. The honor went to Moura. But no matter. The fact that Neil was named is huge enough. Talk about an impact in his first month of solid Premier League action.

Watching him take on Liverpool last Saturday in Anfield (the Bluebirds fell, 4-1), I can only imagine what emotions he felt. As Neil related to me when I used to cover the Azkals regularly from 2008-2014, he grew up a Liverpool fan (the only other Reds fans on the national team there were midfielder Chieffy Caligdong, defender Rob Gier, and team manager Dan Palami).

Against Liverpool, on occasion, the pundits pointed out his spot on challenges especially to Mo Salah (denying him a scoring chance). I wish him more success.

The early good cheer of the season has somewhat dissipated as Cardiff are fighting for their Premier League lives. At 1-2-7, they are just out of the relegation zone for one; one notch higher than Etheridge’s old club Fulham which is in 18^th spot and ahead of Newcastle United and Huddersfield Town.

Cardiff’s next fixture is against reeling Leicester City on November 3. After a 1-1 draw against West Ham (also on the same day as the Bluebirds’ match in the Merseyside), a helicopter carrying the Foxes’ owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed just outside the club grounds. As of this writing, Sunday morning, there has been no word as to who was on board and their fate. We can only offer prayers and wish everyone involved with the club good health and safety.