Champions!

When Ateneo roared to a 41-26 lead at the end of the first half, one of my co-teachers commented that Ateneo had two options: “to hang on or to kill”. Apparently, Ateneo chose to hang on.

With its offense going haywire in the second half, Ateneo leaned on its defense and some key baskets down the stretch to defeat archrival La Salle 62-51, and clinch its first men’s basketball crown since 2002.

The first half looked pretty much like Game One, where La Salle had an early lead, only to have Ateneo come storming back.

Unlike Game One, however, newly-crowned MVP Rabeh al-Hussaini wasn’t a factor in the first half, as he got saddled with early foul trouble. Having earned two fouls, Ateneo coach Norman Black opted to pull Rabeh out for the rest of the first half.

And then King Eagle Chris Tiu took over. Tiu, who wasn’t a factor in Game One, scored 13 points in the first half, to power the Ateneo attack. Jobe Nkemekolam and Baldos also contributed key baskets in the Ateneo surge, which led to a 15-point lead at the end of the first half.

It was clear, however, that any celebration at that point was very premature, as La Salle would soon demonstrate.

It wasn’t the prettiest game down the stretch, as Ateneo’s offense spluttered in the third quarter, as La Salle outscored Ateneo 21-9 to move to within 3 points of the lead.

However, in the middle of the third quarter, Rico Maierhofer got himself ejected, courtesy of technical fouls, both for trash talking. Maierhofer, who had gotten a technical in the first half for jawing at the Ateneo team, was caught flashing his right middle finger at al-Hussaini, earning him his second technical and automatic ejection. While it wasn’t clear from the video whether Rico was dissing al-Hussaini, it was clear that he was at least facing Rabeh, and not motioning to teammate JV Casio, as he claimed in his explanation to the La Salle student commentator.

Without Maierhofer, the offensive burden fell on JV Casio’s shoulders. Unfortunately, as early as the third quarter, Casio earned his fourth foul, coming off a monster 3-pointer.

In the fourth quarter, it was either that both teams’ defense was on overdrive, or both teams simply let the pressure get to them. Neither team scored any field goal until there was less than 5 minutes left, although Chris Tiu, having been fouled taking a three, made all three foul shots to give Ateneo a 6-point cushion. Then, Walsham broke La Salle’s scoring drought by putting in a much-needed basket at the 3:50 mark, but the lead was still four at that point.

What sealed La Salle’s fate was that with 2:43 to go, JV Casio, playing in his last UAAP game, got his fifth foul, an offensive foul for warding off Ateneo guard Jai Reyes with his arm.

Without Maierhofer and Casio, La Salle’s two foundations, the Archers fell prey to the much-vaunted Ateneo defense, and only managed one basket the rest of the way. Top defensive player Nonoy Baclao, broke the offensive drought for Ateneo with a layup at the 2:20 mark. Reyes chipped in a basket at 1:19, along with 3-4 foul shots, to push the lead back to double digits. And that’s how the game ended.

In the end, Ateneo managed to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and clinched its first men’s basketball crown since 2002.

It was a heady feeling, and, while I watched the game at home, I’m pretty sure people in the high school, and the grade school, and especially those watching the game live, were whooping it up, savouring the sweet taste of victory.

What’s promising is that with the only players graduating from the team being Tiu and guard Yuri Escueta, it’s very possible that Ateneo can make it a back-to-back championship.

On the La Salle side, I’m not sure if coach Franz Pumaren will put the game under protest because of Maierhofer’s finger, though I don’t think it’s going to prosper. In the bigger picture, both Casio and Maierhofer will be gone, and Pumaren’s going to have his work cut out for next season, although he does have a number of promising players. The question is whether he will manage to get them to jell in time for next season. If he does, we’ll probably see a repeat of this season, which can only delight the fans of one of the biggest rivalries in Philippine basketball.

Correction: Maierhofer still has one more year, although in his tantrum after the game, he's apparently thinking about it. I'm sure, however, when his head is cooler, he will want to get back at his tormentors.

Game One Musings

I think the most enduring image that I’ll have of last Sunday’s Game 1 for the UAAP men’s basketball championship is that of Ateneo forward Nonoy Baclao’s blocks on La Salle’s James Mangahas and Rico Maierhofer.

The blocks were of such intensity that both Mangahas and Maierhofer were bowled over, with Baclao standing over them; in the case of Maierhofer’s block, which came in the closing minutes of the game, Baclao was shouting in exultation afterwards.

In a game where top Ateneo guards Chris Tiu and Eric Salamat were shackled by foul trouble (some say more due to referees’ dictating the pace of the game rather than actual fouls), Rabeh al-Hussaini and Ryan Buenafe showed why they are most likely to get the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, respectively, taking control of the game early, and helped pound the La Salle Green Archers into submission, as Ateneo won the game 69-61.

Al-Hussaini was unstoppable, scoring 31 points, while Buenafe, a NCAA juniors MVP, helped settle a shaky start by the Blue Eagles, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Mainstay Jai Reyes stepped up his game in place of Tiu and Salamat, scoring 12 points, while Baclao lived up to being “Blockao”, stopping 7 La Salle attempts.

While the La Salle defense managed to force the Eagles to commit an uncharacteristic 23 turnovers, the Archers couldn’t capitalize on the offensive side more often than not. A telling stat was that La Salle shot very poorly from beyond the arc, only hitting two of 19 attempts. Top Archer JV Casio scored 20 points to lead the team, but he did take quite a number of shots that missed; at one point, I think he was only shooting 33% in field goals.

It was a very intense game, although tempers only flared sporadically. I can only imagine what the atmosphere was like inside the Araneta Center, where about 23,000 fans converged to cheer for their respective teams. I watched it on TV, and I felt very tense throughout the game, even when Ateneo was leading by as much as 12 points. Ateneo had been there before, and, against La Salle, no lead, however big, was ever safe. It was only in the last two minutes that I was able to relax, able to relish the win.

Game Two will be on Thursday, during the grade school fair. My class is on shift on one of the booths for the whole day, but I’ll probably be able to watch the game in the grade school auditorium, where a large screen will be erected. Hopefully, the Blue Eagles will be able to close it out on Thursday, and we’ll be able to celebrate Ateneo’s first championship since 2002.

Rivalry Redux

So, the fans (and the scalpers) get the dream match-up that they’d been hoping for. For the fourth time in two decades, the Ateneo Blue Eagles will go up against the defending champion La Salle Green Archers to try to claim their first men’s basketball championship since 2002.

Last Sunday, the Final Four format pitted the no. 1-seeded Blue Eagles against the streaking 4-seed, the UE Red Warriors, while the second-seeded Archers faced the suddenly-vulnerable FEU Tamaraws. Both Ateneo and La Salle needed only to win in order to advance; if FEU and UE managed to pull off an upset, they would have to still play a second game in order to barge into the finals.

La Salle found their hands full with FEU trying hard to force the rubber match, but top Archer JV Casio managed to hold his team together and eked out a 67-62 win, gaining the first finals slot.

At the start of the second game, it looked as if the Warriors were well on their way to giving Ateneo a tough game, leading 11-4 early in the first quarter. Then Jai Reyes, Rabeh al-Hussaini and Nonoy Baclao went to work, with the Blue Eagles surging to a 17-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the fight seemed to drain out of UE, as the Eagles continued to pour it on, ending the first half solidly in control, with a 32-21 cushion.

UE only managed to score 7 points in the crucial third quarter, as their offense spluttered in the face of a tenacious Ateneo defense, while the Eagles continue to soar as they padded the lead.

With 4-5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Ateneo head coach Norman Black sent in his bench, with players like Salva and Nkemekolam and Gonzaga getting some seasoning in preparation for the finals. Ateneo won, 70-50.

And now the stage is set for the finals. Enzo posted an excellent analysis of the game, and I would suggest that you head over there for notes.

I think that Ateneo will prevail if the players can manage to avoid becoming overconfident and complacent; even though the Eagles beat the Archers twice in the elimination round, that means nothing in the finals, as UE found out to their dismay last year. However, I think the players have good memories of last year’s collapse, and they appear to be more focused on the goal this year.

Also, La Salle, beyond Rico Maierhofer and JV Casio, is weaker at the various positions compared to Ateneo. So, in the end, it’s really just a matter of focus and desire. The prize is ripe for the taking; all the Blue Eagles have to do is focus their mind on it.

Commitments

It’s been a busy past two weeks for me, and, as a result, I’ve endured the longest drought between posts in a long while now. But, I’m back, and, hopefully, I’ll be more regular from here on.

In the past two weeks, a number of interesting issues and events cropped up, and this is the difficulty of writing a blog which focuses on current events: if I don’t write about the issue/event immediately, it quickly becomes old news, and a lot of people have weighed in on the matter. Still, it helps to see the issue in a calmer, presumably more rational frame of mind.

Last Saturday, when the Ateneo men’s basketball team defeated La Salle, it was coach Franz Pumaren calling the shots. This was a questionable decision on Pumaren’s part, considering that he was the national youth team coach, and the national team was still playing in a tournament in Tehran. I didn’t think much of it, though, since the Green Archers lost, but last Wednesday, sportscaster and Philippine Star sports columnist Joaquin Henson, a La Sallian himself, wrote a scathing criticism of Pumaren’s decision, questioning Franz’s sense of loyalty and commitment. The day before, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) head Noli Eala also questioned Pumaren’s commitment to the national team.

Last Thursday, Pumaren responded after La Salle defeated FEU in their playoff to determine the no. 2 seed, but he only responded to Eala’s comments, without mentioning Henson’s column. He explained that the father of his assistant coach Jack Santiago, was in the ICU, and Franz wanted Jack, who had been subbing for Franz while Franz was in Tehran, to be able to spend more time with his father, who passed away this week. He also lambasted Eala for giving him crap about abandoning the youth team.

Not that I want to sound callous, but it wasn’t Pumaren’s father in the ICU. There are a number of assistant coaches on the La Salle squad; in fact, Henson, in his column, names Tyrone Bautista as one of them. Bautista could’ve handled the reins while Franz coached in Tehran, although Bautista may have been considered to be too raw or inexperienced to handle the intensity of the rivalry game. Or, Pumaren could’ve sent his brother Derick home to do the job. But he should've stayed and kept his commitment to the team.

It’s interesting to note that Pumaren has said nothing about Henson’s column, considering that the comments of at least two prominent La Salle alumni in Henson’s follow-up column showed agreement with Henson’s criticism.

It’s possible that Pumaren was required by the alumni to come back for the big game, but I don’t have any proof of that. As it stands, it was Pumaren’s decision to abandon the national team, and, at this point, the blame lies squarely on his shoulders. Perhaps it was Jack’s father who made FEU’s JR Cawaling miss his shot, but it was certainly karma that contributed to La Salle’s loss to Ateneo which forced the playoff game with FEU.

The bottom line is that, by agreeing to coach the national team, Pumaren made a commitment that he should’ve kept. Instead, he not only showed great disrespect to his team, but also to his country. One might question whether he was able to concentrate on his task in Tehran, what with the big game with Ateneo on his mind. Could it have contributed to the team’s miserable showing (no matter what ads are posted, seventh place is nothing to be proud of.)? Your guess is as good as mine.

Quick Update: In today's Philippine Star Bill Velasco (an Atenean. How ironic!) allows Franz to air his side. I still ask, couldn't Pumaren have sent home one of the assistant coaches he brought with him? Why did he have to go personally? The answer is simple: it was The Game.

In Velasco's column, Pumaren still didn't castigate Henson for criticizing him, and continued to focus his ire on Eala. It's also interesting to note that, Pumaren was probably aware of Santiago's father's condition even before he left for Tehran. Why did he leave Santiago in charge then, and not one of his other assistants?

Oh, well. Nothing's probably going to come out of this issue; it's not like Pumaren is going to apologize for what he did, and instead, is banking on emotional appeal to pull him through. In the future, then, the SBP should be clear with the national coaches about the commitment that they make to the national team. Otherwise, we'll likely have another situation like this one.