Another high school basketball story

This appears in the Monday, January 27, 2014 edition of the Business Mirror.

Another high school basketball story

by rick olivares

Last Saturday’s Seaoil Metro Manila Basketball League quarterfinals match between underdog Rich Golden Shower Montessori School and National University Team D was not only fun to watch but also a study in contrasts.

RGSMS is a small school in Barangay Dilag, Antipolo. Their student population is made up of those residents who live nearby. Its high school basketball team is made up of only those who bothered to try out. In last year’s Seaoil MMBL, the Spartans, as their team is known by, didn’t even go to the playoffs.

NU is a rising power in scholastic sports. Not only in college but also in high school. With the benefit of greater funding and even better recruiting, they have not only threatened the traditional high school powers like Ateneo and San Beda but also even bested them. Along with Hope Christian High School, they represent the modern realities of basketball or sports today.

NU has even four high school basketball teams today. Four. They even picked up former Colegio de San Benildo hotshot Jordan Sta. Ana who is currently playing for their Team B. He will no doubt star for their UAAP Juniors squad next year alongside guard Philip Manalang.

When you look at NU’s teams you have to go, ‘Whoa! They’re tall and darn good.” They have long since arrested their image of being sports perennial whipping boys. They are now doing the whipping as they are now working on fermenting their culture of winning and classiness.

The Chiang Kai Shek College gym is hardly Thermopylae but for the RGSMS Spartans, this was as close to a last stand as it will get.

It was the win-or-go-home quarterfinals of the Seaoil MMBL at the courts of the Tiong Lian school. The Spartans made the long three-hour drive from Antipolo deep into the heart of the traffic-choked streets of Manila to play the tough, tall and deep Bullpups Team D squad that was backed by a loud and boisterous crowd.

Minus eight of their teammates who were unable to make the trip, the Spartans battled back from two double-digit deficits in the first half to turn the tables on the Bullpups.

In the fourth period, they ratcheted up the defense and silenced the deeper and taller Bullpups to advance to the semifinals with a resounding 90-77 win.

NU, which entered the playoffs with a 5-1 record, looked to blow out RGSMS (6-1) early on as they raced to a 13-1 score in the first period. Matters looked even bleaker when RGSMS center Jericho Immaculata picked up two early fouls.

RGSMS found a spark in sixth man Keith Carreon who is more of small forward than a power forward. Carreon played great defense down the blocks and the Spartans came roaring back to come within a bucket, 35-33, with five to play in the second period.

The Bullpups’ Paul Manalang, younger brother of NU Juniors guard, Philip, scored five straight points to give NU some breathing room as they finished the first half strong for a 47-39 lead.

In the third period, the Spartans stopped the Bullpups on the defensive end while shooting the daylights on the offensive end. NU’s crowd raised their voices to cheer on their team and to work on RGSMS and the referees. If you have been watching basketball for as long as me, you’d wonder, “A NU crowd… heckling?”

After a Paul Ricafort trey that gave RGSMS their first lead of the game, 63-62, to start off the fourth period, Mark de los Santos drilled in another trey for a lead the Spartans wouldn’t surrender. All of a sudden, it was as if a lid had been placed atop NU’s basket while RGSMS’ hoop was as wide as an ocean.

The tide had turned and the Spartans had their inconceivable 90-77 win.

Miguel de la Cruz led RGSMS with 27 points while Ricafort and De los Santos added 22 and 19 points respectively. It was De Los Santos who also played the fireman’s role as he knocked in five triples in the second half including three in the fourth period to douse cold cold water on any NU rally.

NU was led by center Ryan Amsali with 15 points. Marlon Espiritu and Nestor Ramos chipped in 13 and 12 points respectively.

“Gusto lang talaga manalo ng mga bata,” beamed a happy Spartans coach Marc Ureta. “Pwede na sumuko pero lumaban sila.”

Some of the Spartans are more than thrilled for the win. They had also put on a demonstration for other schools that have come to scout them – San Beda and NU are some. Ureta has to constantly work on his team to get them to focus first on the tournament (the Spartans will face Jubilee Christian High School that dealt them their only loss in the tournament so far, 90-80) and their studies. “Syempre, sino ba may ayaw pumunta sa bigger program? Ganyan talaga.”

Ureta mentioned Sta. Ana, whose NU Team B had taken to the CKSC floor to play UST in a semis match up). Sta. Ana had become known in the Cainta-Antipolo area for his prodigious scoring exploits. Now, he’s with NU where next season he will have a chance to help their Juniors team win back-to-back UAAP titles.

The coach’s players watch Sta. Ana take to his warm ups. They’ve got their basketball dreams. But right now, Ureta reeled them back in. For one day, they got to be David to NU’s Goliath.

Calvin Abueva: Scientific progress goes bling

This appears in the PBA website.

Scientific progress goes bling

by rick olivares

That’s the title of a Calvin and Hobbes book that I purposely paraphrased and lifted for this column on none other than Calvin Abueva.

The man after all is like a huge kid let loose in a playground that is the Philippine Basketball Association.

And the “scientific progress”? That would be the Alaska Aces. The Aces of Fred Uytengsu and the necktie brigade that Tim Cone previously introduced where ethics, class, and uniformity is the rule of the day.

“Bling” is the pursuit of another championship.

So is this the taming of Abueva, that hellion who during his college run with San Sebastian literally gave the NCAA the feel of a WWE or a MMA event. Of course, that depends on what school team you rooted for.

Having known Calvin since his days under Ato Agustin (yes, I was allowed inside the team’s locker room during games) up to today where he plays for Alaska and is my Brand Ambassador for Gatorade, I feel that going to the Aces is probably the best thing to happen to him.

While the team is undergoing a makeover from a finesse club to one that is a little rough and tumble on the side (more so since you have Gabby Espinas and Ping Exciminiano on board), the team had not ceded controlled aggression to chaos.

First and foremost, there are classy veterans who have been through numerous PBA wars to bring him along and pull him back when he is going Rodman. Dondon Hontiveros is a great locker room influence and Abueva listens to the man. Although he still occasionally does things to hurt the team, he is getting it.

During that masterful win over Barangay Ginebra where the Aces survived their third straight knockout game, Abueva made great decisions and was in the flow of the team. His beating Greg Slaughter during the jump ball only shows what kind of heart he has. And if you know him, he is all for challenges. Imagine that, at 6’3” he out jumps taller players and beats them to rebounds and to swat shots.

Going back to his third game with the Aces, I remember Luigi Trillo explaining the offense before the team went out for their warm-ups and Abueva, who sat next to JVee Casio, asked his teammate to expound further. It was a five-minute discussion on the finer points of the triple post offense. It was fascinating to watch as Abueva was pointing to spots on the white board about movements and spots. I never saw that at San Sebastian. Now I wasn’t there for all those Baste moments, but I think fair enough, the Stags didn’t play a structured offense or something as systematic as the triangle offense. This represented a new Abueva. By Jove! It isn’t a case of a diamond in the rough but the rough is turning into a diamond!

Sometime after they had won their first title with Abueva in tow, the Aces held practice at the Gatorade Hoops Center along Shaw Boulevard. Abueva was bouncing around that practice. There’s a joy and bounce to one’s step after you win a title after all. But no… he would bump into playfully bump into teammates like a pinball en route to a lay-up. It was more like trying to maintain composure so one can actually finish a play. And in one instance he asked Tony dela Cruz to bump him around while he was attempting a lay-up. Tony dela Cruz! That’s one gentleman of a player who takes his basketball seriously. Dela Cruz did just that and Calvin missed the shot. “Isa pa!” he gamely challenged Alaska’s captain. Tony looked at me and smiled, “I’ll tell you one thing, he’s sure brought some spice to our practices.”

After three tries, Abueva finally made the shot. He turned to Dela Cruz and said, “Ikaw naman.” Tony gave it a try.

All for one. One for all.

Second in relation to not ceding to the chaos theory, I know that assistant coach Dickie Bachmann has made it his personal mission to not only know what makes Abueva tick but to also provide that steadying influence on this raging fury from Pampanga. I think it’s novel but I wonder who is being schooled here.

Let me relate a story during his second season with the Stags where Baste was up against nemesis San Beda. About an hour before the game, a juniors match was being played and Abueva was chatting with Red Lions point guard Borgie Hermida outside the tunnel that leads to the Big Dome’s locker rooms. Someone remarked aloud to Calvin, “Ngayon kinakausap mo siya (Hermida), mamaya titirahin mo siya.”

Abueba quickly replied, “Si Hermida hindi dahil class siya. Yan dalawang yan (points to two other Red Lions) oo kasi pisikal sila maglaro.”

It’s ironic he says that when he is the avatar of old school basketball (the type of game that Sonny Jaworski, Rudy Distrito, or even Yoyoy Villamin played). But there’s a method to the madness. When his Baste teams played Ateneo, there was never any of that roughhousing. I found him helping up players like Kiefer Ravena or even Justin Chua and giving them a pat of the head. He traded hugs with them too. I raised my eyebrows in shock and fascination.

I guess it’s like that with Alaska now. The element of chaos or even a refined version of it if there is such a thing in the finely tuned triangle offense.

So far, scientific progress has gone bling.

Now they are going for another one.

Sev Sarmenta's PDI column today on 11 Days in August

The Nike dry-fit shirt first modelled by Alonzo Mourning is still as good 20 years later

It was around 1993 or 1994 when Nike first came out with this dry-fit shirt that was modelled by Alonzo Mourning when he was still with Charlotte. I don't think I have worn anything of this sort since from Nike. Some 20 years later, the shirt is just as good as it was when I first bought it. It's amazing how it's still of top notch quality even years later. They don't make anything this good and that lasts as long today.

Breaking down NU-BDO's win over UE-Cebuana Lhuillier

Just sharing some thoughts on how I look at basketball games.

I look at the make up of a team. What kinds of players are there? Do they like to run or are they a walk it up team?

I am a firm believer that if a team doesn’t have the height then they should play a swarming type of game on defense then run at every opportunity. There should be some shooters to keep the lane defense a little loose to allow the slashers room to drive.

Been harping on the 24-second shot clock and how teams like NU-BDO should take advantage of that.

Taking notes on the game yesterday, that attacking game netted 29 free throw attempts and 20 fastbreak points. The frenetic attack allowed the Bulldogs to even beat UE-Cebuana Lhuillier on the boards 41-35 912-11 on the offensive glass) despite the Warriors have Bam Gamalinda, Chris Javier, Papot Paredes, and Jesse Bustos to patrol that lane.

I wondered why Lord Casajeros or even Ralf Olivares didn’t play too much (five and four minutes each) while the guards got a lot of playing time. Too many guards on the floor meant less to rebound, a strength of Olivares or even Casajeros. So they got killed.

Paul Zamar is an outstanding player and he topscored for Cebuana with 24 points in 32 minutes. But along with Roi Sumang, James Martinez, and Alvin Padilla, they combined for 53 points and 12 rebounds. The other 22 points were scattered across the forwards and centers who didn’t get their touches. The ball in my opinion didn’t move too much. Rather than help their other players get in the flow of the game, they took too many shots. The four guards averaged 24 minutes while taking 41 attempts.

I feel they did not do proper reads. Alvin Padilla scored eight points on 3-6 shooting. Maybe he should have gotten the ball a little more.

That the guards heavily dictated their offense put a lot of pressure on their forwards and centers. The porous perimeter defense allowed the Bulldogs a lot of free lanes to attack their centers.

I thought that Cebuana relied too heavily on the outside shot. The predilection for the outside shot saw them take 37 attempts from the three-point line while making only 11. The Bulldogs on the other hand attempted 19 times and scored on eight of them for 42%. Save for one or two attempts (that missed badly), NU-BDO’s three-point attempts were taken during the flow of the offense.

With Ray Parks deliberately allowing his teammates to stand up on their own and to put their stamp on the team since he is leaving, the others have responded. Love how Troy Rosario and Glenn Khobuntin playing larger roles. And Glenn has been working hard even after practice. Watched him take an extra 30 minutes of shots after practice ended the other day. That desire, ethic and hunger has seen him play much much better. He topscored for the Bulldogs with 22 points while pulling down 11 rebounds including five offensive boards and five assists (to go with a steal and a block). A well-rounded game that once was Parks’ domain. That augurs well for the transition.

But on to the Bulldogs’ offense, that eight seconds or less attack allowed NU-BDO to win this running away 93-75. That was the huge difference (along with the intensity that they sustained throughout the entire 40 minutes).

My thoughts on Blackwater's overtime win against Cafe France

Allan Mangahas drives to the basket for a layup for Blackwater Sports.

Blackwater Sports survived a late explosion by Mac Montilla to defeat Café France, 87-72, in overtime to get back in the hunt for a quarterfinals berth of the D-League Aspirants’ Cup.

What happened to Café France?

The Bakers had a chance to win this in regulation when Montilla missed a three. Mon Abunda was able to retrieve the rebound be he too missed a shot from the baseline.

How’d Blackwater pull this off?

Two dudes in the crunch.

Kevin Ferrer hit a triple and three free throws to notch the count at 70-all before Café France’s missed shots in the endgame. Ferrer also forced Montilla into a poor shot in the end game.

Then in overtime, Allan Mangahas sped his way to 10 points including six off fastbreaks in the first few minutes to put some distance between them and Café France. And that contributed to the huge disparity in fastbreak points, 22-10. Blackwater likewise has better finishers in Cruz, Mangahas, and even Hyram Bagatsing.

When you look at Blackwater’s lineup, they have three players who have been clutch for their respective college squads – Mangahas with Mapua, Ferrer for UST, and Cruz for Adamson. That’s a major plus for head coach Leo Austria. And all three were in the endgame for Blackwater.

The Bakers hit more triples, pulled down more rebounds (including a 21-10 edge on the offensive boards), and went to the line four more times, 29-25, but I felt that their insistence on going to Montilla when he was already shut down late in the game hurt their chances. Alfred Batino was there for scraps more than a go-to guy.

Unlike for Blackwater Sports that counted several guys picking it up in the clutch in Jericho Cruz, Gio Ciriacruz, and Mangahas. Ferrer got the job done on the defensive end in overtime. It sure is tough to guard a team with players who like to drive inside (Ciriacruz, Cruz, and Mangahas).

Café France sure missed Rod Ebondo in the second half when he was largely ineffective. The Bakers’ head coach Egay Macaraya screamed at him when he got yanked in the fourth, “Where are you? You’re inside but I don’t see you inside. You’re always outside (the lane).”

I thought that was a little unfair because Jam Cortes disappeared in the fourth and in the extension.