My thoughts about Ateneo’s 2nd round win over DLSU

My thoughts about Ateneo’s 2nd round win over DLSU

by rick olivares 
pic by joseph nocos

What a 71-62 win over La Salle that put Ateneo at 11-2.

There is nothing like beating your arch-rival that stops their win streak dead in its tracks, sweeps the elimination round series against them, and it gives you the top seed entering the Final Four.

It also placed La Salle in a precarious position because they fell to 8-5 with a game to play against 7-6 UP this coming Wednesday. Adamson and FEU play each other next Sunday with the latter needing the huge win. There is no chance now for La Salle to catch Adamson which will finish with one of the top two seeds.

It is particularly satisfying win more so when the refs took out most of our bigs in the first half and we had to make do with a patch-up unit that not only tied La Salle heading into the half, but actually outplayed them.

And here is what we thought of the game.

The team held up even with the bigs in foul trouble.

Some of the calls were ticky tacky and they reminded me of that first round game against La Salle in Season 76 where all our bigs were in foul trouble and La Salle defeated us.

There is a difference though. That team was ridden by injuries and players not 100%. No excuses though. That team came out to play.

This time, this current team is really rounding into form.

That squad on the floor during the second quarter – those guys saved the game as they prevented La Salle from running away with it – William Navarro, Mike Nieto, Matt Nieto, Thirdy Ravena, and Jolo Mendoza (with Matthew Daves helping out too).

Unconventional and make do line-up and they were brilliant. It was 29-21 at that point and they razed that lead to make it, 35-all heading into the half. There was a sequence where the returning Taane Samuel -- who channeled the spirit of Mac Cardona and goaded everyone with his antics – got blocked on consecutive possessions by Thirdy Ravena including one dunk attempt. Vicious. Reminded me of Larry Fonacier's back-to-back blocks on Cardona and Nonoy Baclao's back-to-back blocks on Rico Maierhofer.

We took their best shot at that stage and the 14-6 run ensured the game would be even at the half where Tab Baldwin could make his adjustments.

Next man up: William Navarro

Will’s stat line at the end of the game read: 7 points and 5 rebounds (three off the offensive glass) versus 1 turnover. He scored 5 points during that fateful second period. He was even robbed of a bucket when he was whistled for a phantom warding off foul. He could have had at least 10 points (he missed a few free throws too).

It has been an up and down season for Will. He played well during the summer and the William Jones Cup. However, come the UAAP, he has groped for form and confidence. Just as previous games helped Tyler Tio and SJ Belangel find their game, maybe this will help Navarro.

And Matthew Daves gave a good account of himself in his few minutes. Not bad.

On that note, the Big Fella was in foul trouble early in the game. I know Angelo was excited and you cannot blame the Big Fella. Big game atmosphere and all. But he should reign in his emotions and know better on those picks (whether he moved or not at this point) because he is very important to the team’s success.

The unconventional line-ups.

Just when you think Tab wasn’t going to show new tricks. We all knew Samuel would be activated for this game so we didn’t adjust to whatever he was going to do, we sprung a surprise by starting Adrian Wong who did all right. Not everything he did showed up on the stat sheet but he did all right.

We saw the previous two point guard back court of Tyler Tio and Matt Nieto. This time we also saw the Twin Tower combo of Angelo Kouame and Isaac Go.

Speaking of Tyler and Matt, I like the fact that Tab Baldwin has kept Tyler in the starting unit. He has continued to play very well and had zero turnovers again. That shows his efficiency.

Matt is still groping for form after that bout with dengue. If you noticed, he gets tired and his jumper is short. That’s because he doesn’t have his legs yet. But the trooper that he is, he just gives it his all.

This still underscores the depth at the point guard slot.

But the best piece of work was that make shift team in the last five minutes of the second quarter where the heads up play of Navarro and Mike Nieto were massive.

That five-offensive rebound stretch in the third period.

DLSU led, 44-43 at the 6:36 mark. Then came this incredible sequence where Ateneo grabbed five offensive boards.

Thirdy missed a triple attempt and got his own miss.

Raffy Verano missed a shot but he got his own miss.

Matt Nieto missed a triple on the kickout but Thirdy grabbed the offensive board.

Raffy missed the trey but Matt Nieto was first to the carom.

Angelo missed a shot but Raffy stuck it back for a bucket.

The whole sequence took 42 seconds. Like the twin Ravena blocks on Samuel, this speaks much of the tenacity to outwork La Salle.

Keeping cool.

We mentioned Taane Samuel’s antics. It might come as a surprise to most but if you saw him during the summer, he played exactly like that. But the kid has talent for hoops… and for hamming it up. That fake foul? Jeez. Well, we all know that the commissioners hail from the other school so they aren’t going to penalize him.

But I like the fact that no one was retaliating.

And that has been in place for over a decade now. That brings me back to the time when Eric Salamat asked to retaliate against then Green Archer Ryan Araña but was denied by Norman Black. Just play the game. The win is more satisfying. And besides, there are Thirdy’s blocks on Samuel to savor that will live on social media.

Over at the La Salle side, it looks like Kib Montalbo’s early injury has not made him the same player. But I have this feeling that former Blue Eaglet Joaqui Manuel (who I wish was still wearing blue and white) will be their spiritual leader soon if not a big game player for them.

Whether they have a 13-man line-up or not… what a team. You also have to give Louie Gonzales a lot of credit. The two wins aside, they are a deadly foe. They played great defense for the first 15 minutes then well… the tide turned on them.