My thoughts about Ateneo’s Game One win over UST

My thoughts about Ateneo’s Game One win over UST

by rick olivares

Any concerns of court rust were quickly dispelled by not only Ateneo’s blistering start and second wind in a 91-77 win over UST in Game One of the 2019 UAAP Finals. That leaves the Blue Eagles with one more win to snatch the trophy and complete its quest for a three-peat.

The Blue Eagles presented another near masterpiece on their hardcourt canvass with their teamwork, defense, and countering what UST gave them.

To wit, Renzo Subido ended the first period with a long bomb. It would be the only thing of significance he would contribute all game long.

At the 7:15 mark of the second period, the score was 38-22, Ateneo. UST answered with a 14-0 run behind two triples by Mark Nonoy. The lead was cut to five, 38-33, at the 4:54. It took UST four minutes to make a game of it while Ateneo misfired on six attempts to go with one turnover. 

Thirdy Ravena scored on an and-one to give Ateneo a breather, 41-33, but Nonoy cancelled it out with a triple, 41-38.

Sophomore Blue Eagle SJ Belangel answered with three triples; the last one a turnaround shot coming from about 25-feet out to beat the buzzer. 54-39.  Run answered. Subido’s dramatics cancelled out.

Come the third period, Ateneo saw its biggest lead of the game at 23 points, 66-43, after a Ravena drive. UST would whittle it down but it hardly mattered as following a Matt Nieto lay-up at the 2:45 mark of the final period, 88-69. All that had to be settled was the final score.

And for the third straight finals, Thirdy Ravena has elevated the level of his game. He is simply amazing.

Take a look at how Ateneo defense (switching, their defense on and off the screens, not giving much daylight to UST’s shooters) worked on the Growling Tigers.

Player	1st Half shots	2nd Half shots
Mark Nonoy	6/8	3/10
Brent Paraiso	2/5	3/8
Soulemane Chabi Yo	4/10	2/4
Renzo Subido	1/5	2/6
CJ Cansino	0/2	1/4
Rhenz Abando	0/2	1/3
Sherwin Concepcion	0/2	1/3
Dave Ando	1/1	No attempts
Zach Huang	0/1	No attempts

Player	1st Half Points	2nd Half Points
Mark Nonoy	18	8
Brent Paraiso	5	9
Soulemane Chabi Yo	9	4
Renzo Subido	3	5
CJ Cansino	0	4
Rhenz Abando	0	3
Sherwin Concepcion	0	3
Dave Ando	2	0
Zach Huang	0	0

Ateneo raised the level of its game. From the time they played UST in the D-League where the lost, 112-98, Ateneo has marked them as a dangerous opponent. The Blue Eagles piped them, 71-70, in the first round of Season 82, then blitzed them 66-52 in the second round. Have they gotten UST’s full measure? So far, yes. But they do need to close it out.

Everyone thinks that UST jacks up a lot of triples (and they really have in the last two years). But since Tab Baldwin took over four years ago, it is Ateneo that has really gone to that long range bomb as a major weapon. However, UST has simply blown out that number out of the water this season.

Season	Ateneo	Next team w/most triple attempts
Season 79	109-388 (28%)	DLSU 85-306 (28%) Aldin Ayo-coached team
Season 80	158-473 (33.4%)	DLSU 131-449 (29%) Aldin Ayo-coached team
Season 81	142-500 (28.4%)	121-426 (28.4%) Aldin Ayo-coached team
Season 82	114-438 (26%)	197-659 (30%) Aldin Ayo-coached team

In UST’s last four matches, this is how they how shot from three-point range:

14-45 against FEU

11-36 in Game One versus UP

7-39 in Game Two versus UP

14-41 in Game One versus Ateneo

Speaking of shooting, Ateneo shot 52% in Game One. Their season high is 53% that they garnered in their second round, 86-64 win over UP.

The season high in terms of accuracy rate belongs to FEU in their 81-60 win over DLSU where they knocked down 54% of their attempts. 

We’ve always asked the Blue Eagles to pound the ball inside and they did so versus the Growling Tigers with a 58-29 advantage; double UST’s output. All UST really had going for themselves are their three-point shots where they dropped 14 of 41. Ateneo was 9-26 from downtown so they somewhat blunted UST’s shots.

Now they will attempt to close it out in Game Two.

Should Ateneo rest on its laurels?

Not at all.

How crucial was Game One?

Since the UAAP went into a Final Four format in 1994, the team that has won the first match of the series went on to win it 19 out of 25 times.

In the Final Four era, UST has risen from the grave (after losing game one of the finals to win) three times. They accomplished that in 1994 and 1995 against La Salle and in 2006 against Ateneo. Conversely, they were also on the losing end after taking game one but falling in the next two matches against La Salle in 1999 and 2013 while NU also turned the trick in 2014 versus FEU.

Then again, the league has never seen anything like Tab Baldwin’s Blue Eagles.