Ateneo vs. UE: The Outliers

Note: I have edited the original blog entry as the game was postponed last Sunday.

This coming Thursday, the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the University of the East Red Warriors will battle it out for Game 1 of the UAAP Finals. Ateneo arrived in this position after they pulverized the UST Growling Tigers while UE, with its morale at a high, defeated the pre-season favorites – the FEU Tamaraws - twice. Both teams come in to the Thursday showdown with huge winning streaks. Ateneo’s current win streak number is at eleven while UE’s is at eight. One can also make a case that this is the battle of the perennial chokers of the decade. Both teams consistently reached the Final Four in this decade but they usually crumbled when it mattered the most (with the exception of 2002 and 2008). However, the Eagles and the Warriors play contrasting styles and both come from different backgrounds. I shall provide some analysis on the chances of succeeding for both teams.

Actual Game Numbers: The Normal Sports Analyst’s Evaluations

If one were to compare the team stats of Ateneo to UE, it would be easy for that person to conclude that the Blue Eagles have the superior numbers. Ateneo is tops on defense and is the best field goal shooting team in the league. The Hail Mary Squad is also the best team in dimes and is highly efficient in the charity stripe. Heck, the Eagles even own the three-point land. I do not have the overall stat sheet with me but if I am not mistaken, UE’s edge just comes from stealing, rebounding and ballhandling. Just by the numbers, Ateneo is the sure pick to win when these two squads meet.

Oh wait, UE is better in rebounds and turnovers?! Uh oh… I mentioned last year that those two stats are very important to coaches because these translate to possessions. Last year, Team Ateneo relied on the most important factors to win their games: defense, rebounding and ball-handling. This year, UE is statistically better in the last two departments and that could help them in upsetting the highly-favored Blue Eagles. But still, Ateneo takes the upper hand on the statistical battle.

Momentum-wise, I think both teams are just at par with each other. I cringe at the sight when pundits claim that UE is the hottest team in the league right now. Guys, hello?! Ateneo has the longer winning streak. Nevertheless, it does not matter if it is 8 or 11. Those are incredible streaks whichever way you look at it. I say that momentum is just the same for both teams.

Addendum: The typhoon Ondoy might have killed some of the momentum of both teams especially the affected Blue Eagles. Jai Reyes, for instance, somehow thrives on momentum. It would be interesting on how both coaches would respond after this huge incident.

Experience plays a critical part in crucial games. No matter how skilled the players are, it has been very evident in basketball championship matches that ‘experience trumps everything.’ And in this department, Ateneo is very much favored as they won it all last year. Just by watching the Blue Eagles play this season, you will easily observe that they are poised and disciplined to succeed. However, we cannot fully count out UE. One must remember that some of these guys already tasted Finals before (2007). They might have lost but they have already tasted what it felt to be in the big stage.

Looking at any other numerical analyses, one can easily say that Ateneo pawns UE. From the game differential to the discipline. Norman Black’s highly disciplined system and his capability on the X’s and O’s of coaching gives Ateneo the edge. To be honest, the Ateneo Blue Eagles have almost all of the ingredients that basketball winners have: strong defense, superior inside and outside shooting, discipline, poise, teamwork, never-say-die attitude, and championship experience. UE, on the other hand, appears to lack discipline and has a mind-boggling freewheeling system. They carry the losing aura as they have been this decade’s Final Four bridesmaids. Even if they beat FEU twice, I am actually not that convinced because they had a bit of luck on their side to pull off two hot-shooting wins.

Ateneo is more superior if you look at the actual game numbers but UE can snatch victory by being the outlier of inferior lineups. And how can they be the huge deviation? I think the ‘hunger’ factor will hugely help the Red Warriors. I was not even a year old when their school held the basketball crown. If you watch their recent games, you will notice that they really want it. They are feeling it as they celebrate after every difficult shot they make. Even their fans are cheering loudly especially in Game 2. High emotions are very pivotal at this time of the season. This brings us to our next point…

Historical Perspective: The Story of the Cinderella Teams

As a huge UAAP fan this decade, I can truly attest that collegiate basketball is fueled by several Cinderella stories. The term ‘peaking at the right time’ was heavily used in recent years because unexpected teams beat their dominant foes. The beauty of collegiate basketball is its unpredictability. Let’s admit it: college players are not that consistent as professional guys are. You see several turnovers and missed shots in every UAAP game. This fact proves that superior collegiate teams can be vulnerable at time. We must also remember that players play for school pride and ride with the emotionally-uplifting cheers of the fans. Thus, we often see the David teams beat their Goliath opponents. You still do not believe me? Let’s take a look at history.

I started religiously watching UAAP in 2002. I can take further data in years prior to 2002 but I prefer to analyze from the seasons I have wholeheartedly watched. Ever since 2002, first-seeded teams are in tough luck. Their winning record against their Finals opponents is at 2-5. We must also remember that the first-seeded teams ALWAYS advance to the grand stage, thus this emphasizes how likely it is for them to lose to the 2nd and 3rd seeded teams. The only 1st placed teams to succeed were Ateneo (over DLSU in 2008) and FEU (over DLSU in 2005). By the way, I am considering DLSU’s championship in 2004 ‘legitimate’ in this discussion since we are just talking about the actual games, not the eventual rankings.

Another interesting fact that is going for UE is, third placed teams (since 2002) which advanced to the Finals always end up winning the championship. Ateneo did it in 2002 over the 13-1 DLSU squad while UST succeeded in 2006 by beating the 10-2 Ateneo team. Suddenly, the Blue Eagles 13-1 win-loss slate is not that scary as it used to be.

Norman Black’s history is not going to help Ateneo either. I actually read this from the forums and I found out that Norman Black has an awful record against rookie coaches. Black’s SMB PBA team lost to the Rino Salazar-led Shell squad in 1992 and to Chot Reyes’ Purefoods team in 1993. Black also coached the Blue Eagles when they lost to Pido’s UST Tigers when Jarencio was just a rookie coach. I cannot fully validate on Rino Salazar’s win over Norman Black but I am pretty sure with Chot Reyes’ win because his championship game was the very first basketball game I have watched.

I believe in the saying, “History repeats itself.” I have watched too many basketball games for me to observe teams commit the same mistakes of the past. I also regard momentum highly because it really fuels the players. I am a streaky shooter when I play basketball so I know how it feels. Once you experience your shots to trickle in, you will have that inner boost to trigger the same way again. That is what is existent in the Red Warriors and the other successful third placed teams. They may not be that successful in the elimination round but because they got the boost at the right time, they have the opportunity to succeed. Sweeping FEU in the Final Four just adds more fuel to the fire.

Ateneo appears to be dominating in statistical records but UE has the side of history behind them. Suddenly, the Red Warriors became the favorites by being the underdogs. However, the Hail Mary squad also possesses interesting X-factors which could negate history and put them as the outliers to the Cinderella stories. The third placed teams that succeeded in 2002 and 2006 both defeated the first-seeded squads during the elimination round. On the other hand, Ateneo dominated the UE Red Warriors in both games this year. The second round encounter had a small margin but it was actually a blowout heading to the final minute. If there is one huge indicator in Finals, that would be the head-to-head matches. Almost all pundits predicted the Cavs to beat the Magic early this year but the opposite happened because the experts missed out the fact that Orlando had more wins against Cleveland in the regular season and these were all in big margins.

If UE has ‘hunger,’ Ateneo has momentum and experience. The past #1 seeds which lost to their foes somehow lost their steam somewhere along the road. Ateneo circa 2006 lost to UST in the elims; the 13-1 Green Archers lost their final regular season game; and the 14-0 UE squad had almost a month of break. If UE is peaking at the right time, so is Ateneo. And with the Blue Eagles being the habitual people to lick their wounds in past seasons, I think they have learned from their mistakes. Even some Ateneo fans (LIKE ME!) do not want to predict that Ateneo is going to win for the fear of jinxing the team. The Blue and White, being the historical underdog (by being #1), can become the outlier of UAAP’s champions if they have indeed learned from history.

Which team would be the outlier? We shall find out next week.

I hope the Blue Eagles have indeed learned their lessons in the past. No Yabang. Eyes on the prize. Remember, it is only once in our lifetime for us to experience the 150th anniversary of our school. Please make it special. One Big Fight!

Win Or Lose, It's The School We Choose

Note: This is the 2nd part of my blog ‘Atenista Ako. Ikaw?'

Ateneo won the 2002 Men’s Basketball Tourney after fourteen years of drought. It was like Star Wars IV (A New Hope) because they finally defeated the Green Archer Empire which held the title for four straight years.

Green Archers Strike Back

After my memorable freshman year in college, I made a personal vow to watch every Ateneo-La Salle game I could. I was feeling lucky then because my favorite teams won in every basketball game that I watched. I only chose to watch Ateneo-La Salle games because of my hectic school schedule. Anyway, teachers rarely schedule long tests during Ateneo-La Salle games.

2003. Ateneo still has its lineup intact except for the departure of super senior Enrico Villanueva. La Salle was on its rebuilding year because they lost key players like Mike Cortez, BJ Manalo and Willy Wilson. My winning streak continued when Ateneo swept La Salle in the elimination round. The Green Archers were simply our bitches then. I can still remember the disgruntled Joseph Yeo getting pissed off with Wesley Gonzales’ trash talking after DLSU got beaten badly by Ateneo’s Fab Four of Wesley Gonzales, Rich Alvarez, Larry Fonacier and LA Tenorio. The die-hard blood is starting to flow through my veins then as I watched those games even if I did not have a companion. My personal winning streak, however, ended in the infamous Tenorio-Gaco altercation match (Game 1 of AdMU-DLSU Final Four encounter). Joseph Yeo found his stroke and he burned the Eagles with his triples. That game would have to be one of the turning points of my fan experience. Aside from experiencing my first loss, it also left a terrible sting because I felt that La Salle had nothing to lose and everything to gain as their rookies experienced what it takes to beat Ateneo. Even if Ateneo went to win the second game, I still got concerned for the future. Little did I know that the future was darker than I expected it to be. When Ateneo went to defend its title against FEU, the Tamaraws crushed the Blue Eagles mercilessly in just two games. Blame it on the fatigue factor but Ateneo barely stood a chance to beat their yellow and green foes. I was frustrated to the point of throwing a pillow at our TV set because the Tamaraw lead grew bigger and bigger. From what I thought was a sure back-to-back season, it became a disastrous ending. It even came to a point when I started to question the ‘heart of a champion’ because the Blue Eagles could not even lessen FEU’s huge lead. Some basketball fans prefer losing on big leads than close game heartbreakers but I am of a different specie – I would rather see my team valiantly putting up a fight and keeping it close before succumbing to defeat than getting dismantled by their opponents. With our powerhouse lineup then, I felt devastated. But the good news was: Larry Fonacier showed that he has the heart – he was doing his best just to keep it close. He made threes and he fished for fouls just to have a chance. In the end, he was found crying but I was proud of him because I knew he gave the best he could. FEU just wanted it more.

2004. Fonacier’s showing in the 2003 Finals kept my spirit alive. I knew we have a chance with our new King Eagle. He has arguably the best leadership aura during those times. Our first game against La Salle exhibited that as Ateneo rallied from a fourteen point halftime deficit to beat the young Green Archers. However, I had one big concern: Ateneo depended so much on their vets in the previous year that the freshman batches from 2002 (Intal, Kramer, Escalona) and 2003 (Tiu, Arao, Nkemakolam) did not get the needed composure. Outside of Fonacier, Tenorio and Bugia, Ateneo was struggling. We encountered our worst fears when Larry Fonacier had an ACL injury during their game against UP. Ateneo went to sweep the first round of that season but they have to pull off the rabbit from the magician’s hat to accomplish it. They had to climb up from a huge Adamson lead to beat them on St. Ignatius Day. I can still remember Tenorio’s game-winning step-back three then because it ended with the blue gallery cheering for Larry. We also beat the Arwind Santos-led FEU team by another Tenorio clutch jumper. If I am not mistaken, the term Sixth Man started to become famous then because of the solid fan cheering which fueled the Blue Eagles to have a never-say-die attitude. Unfortunately, we used up all our luck points in the elimination that there was nothing left for us in the crucial games. (The Empire’s soundtrack starts to play in the background…) The Green Archers massacred the Blue Eagles by winning their next three games by huge margins. Those were the times when I started feeling the cold sting of defeat in my knees. With the huge leads, losing was inevitable. The Blue Eagles could not prolong their series unlike the rookie-laden Green Archers from the previous year. Moreover, my worst fears came when La Salle ended up as champions in that year.

I would like to note though that since 2004, I began to watch other Ateneo games even if we were not up against La Salle. This included games against UST, Adamson and FEU.

My graduating year was more terrible than the previous year. The players from batches after Tenorio were still raw. Intal showed flashes of brilliance but it was not on a consistent basis. Tiu left the team for junior term abroad. Japeth Aguilar was a defensive force but was still raw offensively. Barracosso was still a disappointment despite his size and athleticism. Our new hopes rested on his high school teammate - the undersized shooter named Jai Reyes. He may lack height but I was impressed with his guts. This guy has the balls to shoot. He was doing what other high school standouts (Tiu and Barracosso) were hesitant to do during their freshmen years. Nevertheless, 2005 was a carbon copy of the previous year as DLSU continued to build up huge leads at us. What even hurt more was when they added insult to injury as Yeo taunted the Ateneo crowd after every shot he made. The green quintet even had the infamous ‘photograph incident’ when they enacted a photoshoot while an Atenean was taking his freethrows. But what hurt the most was when the Blue Eagles seemed to give up when their Taft-based rivals were padding the lead. Their opponents were already mocking them and they did not seem to have the fighting attitude. I do not want them to brawl their enemies but I was hoping that they show some fire in their eyes. Unfortunately, they lost while I felt helpless at the bleachers. It was a tough year where every AdMU-DLSU game ended up with me losing my voice and LOSING. Yes, I always cheer even if we are down by double digits. Even if the people around me are quietly watching. That was why it pains me to see Ateneo lose without putting up a fight. This was the year when the Blue Babble always shouted “PUSO!” We are usually down so having the heart to believe that the Hail Mary squad could catch up was a necessity. Times like this separate the die-hards from the fans who just watch for the sake of being there. Nevertheless, I, along with the rest of the Ateneo community, waited for the final buzzer for us to sing our Alma Mater. After all, win or lose, it’s the school we choose.

The domination of the Lasallian Empire ended the same as Empire Strikes Back with a shocking revelation as Darth Green Archer muttered, “We fielded ineligible players.” We all know what happened after that.

The Return of the Blue Eagles

Batch 2005 redeemed themselves big time the following year. Too bad, La Salle got suspended so we were deprived of beating their asses. Nevertheless, the raw players finally matured. Intal, Kramer, Escalona and Tiu led the Blue Eagles to steamroll their opponents in the elimination round. They were such a disappointment the previous year that whatever they did in 2006 overachieved my expectations. We ended up with a Finals battle with the UST Growling Tigers. Game 1 was very close but it ended with me celebrating ecstatically in Gen Ad after Kramer hit the 1 second shot. Unfortunately, we lost badly in the next game. In the final game, I was still optimistic of our chances as we were the #1 team in the eliminations. We were also leading remarkably in the last minute of that game. However, I suddenly felt the cold sting in my knees. We were winning but I did not feel the championship moment that I experienced in 2002 during that time. Lo and behold, UST caught up; Intal missed the game-winning layup and we found ourselves losing after overtime. It sucks but with the way we lost, it seemed that we were not meant to win it. I do not know if there was Divine Intervention that took place but all I felt was that it was not the right time yet. After five seconds of shock, I congratulated my UST friend who watched with me and applauded the Blue Eagles even if they choked in the end. I knew they fought their hearts out – it was just not our time. We cannot attain the “return to glory” as soon as possible as it is a process, a journey. I knew that the journey still continues. We have to learn more.

Green Archers returned in 2007 and they were good as hyped. UE might have swept the eliminations then but I was among the people who thought that they would lose the finals due to rustiness. The Blue Eagles, on the other hand, were poised to do what they should have done in the past years – peak at the right time. They were on a wild win streak and I was confident that we have a very good shot of winning it all once we get the second seed. Ateneo swept La Salle in the elimination round because of Tiu’s clutch shooting. All was good until we lost to NU. That was the backbreaker game of the season as momentum was lost prior to the Final Four. Peaking at the right time is very much needed but protecting your momentum is as essential as well. As a result, the Blue Eagles lost two crucial games to the Green Archers who continued to add salt to our wounds by having the THES-QS banner and Pumaren bragging “2>3”. We have to struggle again and learn a valuable lesson before we win a championship, just the same as Luke Skywalker when he struggled against the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. 2007 had failure etched in it but there was progress as we have began winning more games than the Lasallites. And besides, there was a bright future with the rumored recruitment of high school standouts Buenafe, Salva and Chua.

As for 2008, I will just cut the story short: After years of struggling, the Ateneo Blue Eagles finally arrived at the Promised Land by plowing through the rest of the league with a dominating 16-1 record. Yup, just like the Jedis, we celebrated in the end. We also got the help from Ewoks (refs… yeah, thanks for buzzkilling Game 2 last year. We did not need Maierhoffer to get thrown out then). Nevertheless, there was no more cold sting in my knees when I gave one big shout of joy in Gen Ad when watching Game 2 of last year’s Finals. The Blue Eagles have finally learned and prevailed from their six-year struggle. Adversity makes champions.

It took us that long. But if I were given a choice, I would still pick the path that we had. For what it was worth, the struggles developed character not just on the players but for us, fans as well. Tears were shed and lessons were learned. That was why victory was very sweet. Years of outright domination will not teach you that.

We sang A Song For Mary at the Gesu in the Holy Mass after the game. It was there when I finally got my wish of hearing the solemn singing of the lines “win or lose, it’s the school we choose.” There is no over-emphasis that could be mistaken as insecurity when those lines were sung that way. Win or lose, it’s the school we choose. I can still remember my ex-girlfriend’s remark on those lines, “even in your (referring to me) Alma Mater’s song, competitiveness is exhibited.” True, we are competitive but for me, the meaning behind “win or lose, it’s the school we choose” is about having that school spirit that we uphold whatever happens. The term ‘lose’ in there is the key. We know we cannot win always so in instances when others deserve to win more than we do, we advocate sportsmanship by acknowledging the winner and losing gracefully. After all, it is not winning that matters. Winning is just an icing to the cake. The important thing is to learn from failures and to do the appropriate thing after every outcome. Six years of defeat taught me that I should be glad of my school’s effort to have the heart to battle it out and still uphold the morals that UAAP teaches us. Learning does not end in school – it is also found in venues such as sports. This is why I still support the Blue Eagles up to now. We learn every year.

Win or lose, it’s the school we choose. This is not done to piss off other schools. The line is a statement that shows that we are simply proud of being Ateneans no matter what happens. Ang sarap talagang maging Atenista.

We are back again to the UAAP Finals. I just hope that the players have fully learned from the past that no matter how dominant the team was, the Finals is never ‘a walk in the park.’ No Yabang. Eyes on the prize. As for spectators like me, remember that win or lose, it’s the school we choose. One Big Fight!

P.S. To Lasallians: sorry for using your team as The Empire. This writeup is from an Ateneo fan’s perspective so expect me to view the Green Archers as The Empire to the Jedi Blue Eagles. That’s just how the rivalry goes. Peace!

Who Watches WNBA? Seriously?

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last September 19, 2009.

I do. Most basketball-crazed fans don’t. Even Bill Simmons a.k.a. “Sports Guy” thinks that league stinks as he hopes that it stops its operations some time this year. There are various reasons why. You seldom see domination in that league. It is low scoring and you can count in only one hand all the WNBA players to ever dunk. If you watch their regular season game, you will notice that there are several empty seats in their small stadiums. Most people do not normally expect anything great from watching women play in a male-dominated sport. But still, WNBA has its tagline: “Expect Great.”

Nevertheless, I still watch these females play ball. Yes, and I do expect something great from them. Awhile ago, I woke up to tune in to BTV to check the WNBA playoffs (yes, it’s their playoffs now… I bet you do not know about that). The Los Angeles Sparks were battling the Seattle Storm in Key Arena. The former leads the series 1-0 and they just need a win to dispose the Storm. For everyone’s information, I root for two WNBA teams: San Antonio Silver Stars and Seattle Storm. This has got something to do with rooting for two WNBA cuties (yeah, I confess that I was drawn to support them because they are pretty as you seldom transcendent beautiful faces in WNBA). San Antonio is led by blonde (now a brunette) hotshot Becky Hammon while Seattle features the league’s best natural point guard in Sue Bird. I have to admit though that I became their fan because of their admirable skills (anyway, beauty initially entices you; in the end, what matters is the skill and talent). Becky, despite of her small stature, knows how to be transcendent with her scoring, passing and defense. On the other hand, Sue Bird plays like my favorite NBA point guard – John Stockton. She looks to set up the plays first but when clutch times call for her to deliver, she does it impressively. Today, it was my chance to watch Sue in action.

I began watching by second quarter. The Sparks mounted a good lead of nine and Seattle looks like a helpless squad as their star player – Lauren Jackson – is out with yet another injury. (Last year, the two teams also battled in the playoffs with LJ nursing an ankle injury. LA eliminated Seattle last year.) It appeared that we are headed to a repeat of last year’s playoffs when LA brought the lead to eleven during the third quarter. Seattle was shorthanded and LA is a powerhouse with WNBA’s version of LeBron James in Candace Parker so I was not expecting anything much from the Storm. I just hoped that they give one fight for survival. Just when I wished that, Seattle started to put a run of their own. Led by Tanisha Wright, Seattle stormed back and made the hometown fans erupt with cheers of “Beat L.A.” By the way, she looks like Dr. Bailey of Grey’s Anatomy now that it made me think of an appropriate monicker for her. Should I call Tanisha the “General Surgeon” or “The Ped?” But just like her TV show look-alike, I could not figure what suits her better. By the end of third quarter, the Storm are suddenly leading 56-55. I found myself cheering happily in front of my TV set. Hey, this is nothing different from watching an intense men’s ballgame!

As the crowd roared, I was in basketball nirvana. The Storm quintet was heavily pumped up by the crowd as they fueled an early fourth quarter run that had them leading by eight. They have fulfilled my wish. I am glad for rooting for them because despite of being underdogs, they had the heart to catch up the LA powerhouse. I was already thinking of what to tweet after I saw them controlling the game. Timeout L.A. Should I tweet or not? Argh! The laptop is upstairs. I will just wait further. Thank God, I did not tweet. I would have been an overconfident fool if I did. LA responded by decimating Seattle’s lead as soon as possible. As the crucial minutes of the game came, LA was back on top. Lisa Leslie really wants to win it all this year as she is about to retire. Candace Parker, though she is not dominating, was contributing crucial points down the stretch. As for Sue Bird? She continued to struggle. LA and Seattle exchanged leads until the last minute where LA found themselves leading after a crucial tip-in by Lisa Leslie.

27 seconds remaining. Seattle timeout. Cameras started to focus on Sue Bird. We all know that she is the clutch shooter of the team. The inbound pass went to Tanisha Wright. I was glad it did not went to Sue because I am sure she will pass it – I would rather have her take the pass and make the final shot. Unfortunately, Tanisha fumbled the ball and it went LA’s way. LA Ball. Now, the Storm have no choice but to foul. Argh! All of my previous positive energies went down the drain when Seattle failed to deny Tina Thompson the ball. She is an 87% freethrow shooter so when she calmly swished the free shots, all I could do was cringe. It’s over. Seattle’s season is over once again. There are just 15 seconds left and they are down by four. Suddenly, Tanisha “The General Surgeon/Ped” Wright became “The Choker”. Heck, at least I will not have a dilemma on what monicker to give her.

Just like the previous Seattle timeout, the cameras started to zoom in Sue Bird. The commentators start to talk about her. All throughout the season, she was able to force overtimes by tying leads by her rainbow shots. This time, she won’t be tying it as she will just decrease the lead should she sink the triple again. I was also concerned because LA should know this. They know how to defend the best clutch shooter – they did it before against Becky Hammon. If in the previous inbound I did not expect her to get the ball right away, this time I knew that she will get it (there’s not much time to set up a play anyway!). Sue did get the ball. Outside from the arc, she faked. A Spark was tricked by jumping at her. Sue jumps. Sue shoots… Sue scores! BAM! I shouted as if we won the game. Mom had to shout back at me because I was getting too noisy. But hey, I am a basketball fan and this is how we react in such scenarios. Sue did it again. Just another day in the office… but wait, LA is still leading. Sue scored but Seattle is still losing. Damn! LA Timeout.

LA Inbound. Just like the previous episode, they look for the best freethrow shooter. Unfortunately for them, Seattle was prepared this time. Camille Little tipped the ball after it was passed. I automatically reacted by standing. Is it a complete steal? Yes it was. The ball goes to Seattle and they are running in free court. Wow! We have a chance of winning! The ball goes back to the running Camille Little for the fastbreak layup. She scores! I was jumping up and down to celebrate. Seattle suddenly found themselves winning. LA has one last chance of winning but their two attempts failed. Seattle steals a win from the jaws of elimination. After being down by 4 with just 15 seconds remaining, the Seattle Storm pulled off a dramatic win. That was simply fantastic! If that is not entertainment at its best, I do not know what it is.

But still, there are just few WNBA supporters. I highly doubt that that victory would entice people to watch. But as for me, I am glad I watch WNBA games. This is because I expect great and I know I can witness greatness.

UAAP Season 72 End of 2nd Round Thoughts

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last September 14, 2009.

I am quite stressed right now but since writing a blog releases some of it, here are my thoughts on the UAAP Season 72 end of eliminations. Lots of things to discuss here…

Power Rankings:
1) Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles (13-1). No Brainer. They swept the second round of eliminations so this top spot belongs to them. The Blue Eagles are clicking like a well-oiled machine as players take turns in being the best guy each game. Ateneo is back as the best defensive squad and they have shown they are hungry to retain the title as they have pounded teams like UP and they have shown the heart of a champion by catching up from a huge deficit.
2) University of the East Red Warriors (10-4). Six game winning streak. The Red Warriors have finally learned from past mistakes as they are now banking on ‘peaking at the right time.’ I do not trust Coach Chongson’s offensive strategy but their streak is simply a feat.
3) Far Eastern University Tamaraws (11-3). They could have been #1 here if they just kept their huge lead against the defending champs. Squandering an 18 point lead with roughly ten minutes to play is a huge downer. It shows weaker character in controlling the game. The team is still lethal and is still the best team to beat Ateneo but they lost two games in the 2nd Round.
4) University of Santo Tomas (6-8). Final Four is Final Four. They maybe losing in bunches recently but they still entered the Final Four.
5) Adamson University (5-9). If they just won one close game in the first round (either from UST or DLSU), they could have been playing UST for the final playoff spot. Nevertheless, they were impressive by having a 4-3 record in the 2nd round. Kudos to Coach Leo Austria.
6) University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons (3-11). They may have lost badly in the recent games but they were still able to get two wins in the second round. NU might have beaten DLSU in their last game but UP also beat both the former and latter. Bright future for the State U kids but this is obviously not their year.
7) De La Salle University Green Archers (5-9) and National University Bulldogs (3-11). 1-6 in the 2nd round. That is simply losing when it matters. This should easily just be DLSU because they sport a better record but their loss to the team with the worst record at their most crucial game is just a huge blow to them especially that they have a reputation of ‘winning when it matters the most.’

Cheerdancing Competition Thoughts:

I really suck in evaluating Cheerdance competitions. Anyway, I care more on traditional cheerleading than cheerdancing because the former is what pumps up the crowd to support their team during games. I had the gall to predict the winners (via Twitter) before competition started: 1) UP 2) UST 3) DLSU. Yup, I thought the Animo Squad is for real this year when they showcased their skills during the past halftime routines. Because I had the feeling that I incorrectly predicted it, I just stated that I was a lousy evaluator.

I continued watching and I waited for the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion. Of course, I also waited for Jessica Mendoza’s introduction to them because it would show the more perky side of her because courtside reporting for basketball reveals her more serious side. It was just one commercial away from my Alma Mater’s performance when *poof* our electricity went out. Nice timing! Electricity was restored eventually but I was just able to watch the final minute of the Blue Babble presentation. I found the stunts normal and I was not able to grasp the theme better. Thus, I tried to foolishly redeem my first prediction by predicting that Ateneo will not win in the CDC.

Good job, Jeff! As it turned out, an Atenean cheerdancer won the Samsung Stunner and Ateneo placed second overall. Of course, being a runner up was a first for the Blue Babble so that counts as a win as well. From now on, I will never give predictions on UAAP CDC. I am still very glad of the Blue Babble Batallion.

Jeff: “Congratulations to the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion for placing second in the UAAP CDC”
Blue Babble (to Jeff): “No thanks to you, you fair-weathered non-believer!”

Haha! The Blue Babble won’t say that to me because it is not the Ateneo way but I admit that I felt bad for not believing in them. I strongly follow the basketball team but I normally expect nothing from the Babble in CDC. Quite unfair, right? Yes. To think of it, they are the ones who get in touch with us during games. I am a vocal spectator during UAAP games so the effect of the Blue Babble is huge on me. I usually lose my voice before the first quarter ends due to cheering. Thus, I deserved to be called a non-believer after I counted out the Blue Babble from winning the cheerdancing competition. Nevertheless, I prefer their cheerleading ways more than their cheerdancing so as long as we get to have our traditional cheers to pump up the team, I am still proud of the Blue Babble no matter how low they place in the Cheer Dance Competitions.

Final Four Thoughts:
• No matter how awful a technical coach I think of Pido, I hope the Blue Eagles do not underestimate their Espana counterparts. We are on a great winning streak and relaxing right now is a no-no because we do not want to lose any steam. I hope we beat the Growling Tigers in the first game.
• As Jessica reported in the UP game, Coach Norman Black is busy preparing his team on three important factors: 1) conditioning, 2) tactics against opponents and 3) emotions. I am loving every bit of Black’s strategy! After years of watching the Blue Eagles struggle, we have the right coach to guide the players on the right way to win when it matters the most. Past coaches usually missed these pointers. Before, Ateneo spends most of their positive energy early on the season, but since last year the Blue Eagles are pumping huge momentum as the games become more and more crucial. This is why we are poised to win it all. However, it is easier said than done. Lots of things can happen so I am just hoping that we end up winning the championship.
• Dylan Ababou wins the MVP award. Based on the current criteria to win the MVP (by stats alone), he fully deserves it even if his stats sometimes get bloated with their run-and-gun style of play. However, I did not want him to win it because he punched a player during the season. Enrico Villanueva and Rich Alvarez were both disqualified from winning the MVP trophy before because they punched players, why give Dylan the exception? His achievement will have an asterisk on it because of that unsportsmanlike act. UAAP is about upholding sportsmanship so why was this thing missed?
• Is UE for real? After all these years, I cannot really say. Pundits are predicting a Red Warrior win in their Game 1. As for me, do not count out the Tams – they are #2 for a reason.
• I was wrong in predicting that DLSU will be in the Final Four but this has got to be one of the times when I was happy to be mistaken. Haha! I love watching Ateneo battle DLSU but to be honest, I wanted them to lose to NU for them to feel what we felt two years ago. And besides, it is physically and emotionally draining for the Blue Eagles whenever they face La Salle. I badly want Ateneo to win the championship this year. Also, it is very difficult to line up for tickets. I had to line up starting 4 AM in Araneta last year just to get a General Admission ticket!
• Winning the crown is an achievement. Repeating it is a bigger feat. If I am not mistaken, Larry Bird’s Celtics never repeated in their dominance during the 80’s. Even the San Antonio Spurs have not accomplished this when they won four crowns. Champions have been there and done it when they defend their crown, however we must remember that they carry that huge bull’s eye target at their backs throughout the season when they defend. Opposing teams always take champions seriously and more importantly, champions have to battle against their upgraded egos. Thus, I am praying and hoping that the Blue Eagles win the UAAP Men’s Basketball Trophy this year. I have already experienced the disappointment in 2003. Let’s not make that happen again. And besides, it’s just once in our lives that we experience the 150th anniversary of our school so please make it sweet and special.

MVP Rankings:
This is unnecessary as it has been announced already.

Mythical Five:
Rabeh Al-Hussaini
Aldrech Ramos
Dylan Ababou
Paul Lee
Andy Barrocca

Rookie of the Year:
RR Garcia. However, I think he is not eligible. Nevertheless, it’s his first year and he has shown that he can carry the FEU team on his shoulders when their supposedly strong cast disappoints.
Jeric Teng. He is the likely winner. The stats support it and you can observe that he is for real when he plays. This kid has pride, puso and is palaban.

Courtside Reporter:
1) Jessica Mendoza. I may have criticized her in my past blog but she is still the #1 in my books. She is substance and style combined. Je delivers the news that we, die-hard basketball fans, want. She may not be as natural as Lia was, but Jessica did not have a strong basketball background before. Lia Cruz still remains the best courtside reporter in my books but Jessica Mendoza can potentially be better than Lia because of Jessica’s attention to detail and willingness to immerse. Oh by the way, Jessica looks very beautiful in a cheerleader outfit.
2) Maan Panganiban. Confidence, confidence, confidence. This girl exudes confidence and delivers her nicely-written reports naturally. Extra points for reporting for NU.
3) Tiff Atendido. She is actually at par with Maan. Maybe, Maan just delivers it with better lines. Nevertheless, good job!

Defensive Player of the Year: Nonoy Baclao. He may not have the most blocks per game this year but his defensive presence is enough to bother opposing slashers.

Warrior of the Year: Nonoy Baclao. Since their first round game against DLSU, Baclao has been suffering from an injury in his left hand. Nevertheless, that did not stop the guy from playing crucial games in the second round. He was rested in other games but these were already in the latter part of the second round. For valiantly defending the crown (pun intended), Nonoy Baclao deserves to be the warrior of the year.

Sixth Man of the Year: Bader Malabes. Yep, 6th man for their opponents. Just kidding! Let’s give this guy a break as he had a tough year

Real Sixth Man of the Year: Nico Salva. He is also the Most Improved. This guy has immensely improved from last year as he has shown that he is a consistent force off the bench. Ateneo’s starters usually struggle offensively so Nico’s points always come in handy as Ateneo usually pads up the lead when they face their opponents’ bench.

Coach of the Year: Norman Black. 13-1. Coach Norm has conquered collegiate basketball. From recruitment to end-game decision-making, Black has pushed the right buttons. Ateneo’s record speaks for itself. Their composure and deep lineup are the perfect ingredients for succeeding. Armchair coaches cannot ask anything more from Norman Black.

Player you would love to be part of your team but you would hate if he plays against you: Eric Salamat. His trash-talking psyches out his opponents and on the other hand, he knows how to pump up the crowd. Seriously, this is what Ateneo – as we always field in a good team image – lacked before. Eric, maraming salamat! One Big Salute to you!
Runner-up: Joshua Webb. This kid has animo in him. He just needs to be more consistent.

Sportsmanship Award: Adamson University Soaring Falcons. They got eliminated easily but they showed what sportsmanship and school pride is all about – they played all out in their last (no-bearing) games. As a result, they edge the once-dominant DLSU Green Archers in the fifth place via quotient system. Kudos to Leo Austria and his boys.

Favorite Twitter Personality of the Year: Jessica Mendoza. Hey, she re-tweeted me! But to be honest, there’s no other UAAP Tweep I know of. Does someone know the Twitter ID’s of the players? It would be interesting to know what’s in their heads prior to the games. But of course, I would think twice before adding because I only follow personalities who post interesting and grammatically-correct tweets. I had to de-tweet NBA players before because they were talking nonsense and were flooding my Twitter site.

P.S. I still have not started writing on the second part of “Atenista ako. Ikaw?” There is too much work these days
On to the fray. Let’s win it all on our 150th anniversary. Go Ateneo! One Big Fight!

UAAP Season 72 First Half of Second Round: Getting Serious

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last September 1, 2009.

I am actually writing this journal entry for the sake of giving my ‘quarterly’ power rankings and analysis. The season is reaching its critical stage so I will try to be more level-headed and serious in my analysis rather than put strong biases on it. We are way past the end of the first half of the second round, but I am still publishing this. We still have two weeks to go.

UAAP Men’s Basketball Power Rankings
1) Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles. (11-1) Best winning percentage usually goes to the team on top. The Hail Mary Squad has performed greatly in the second round of eliminations with an immaculate record thus far. They have shown that they are the team to beat by plowing over their opponents. There might be close encounters but these would have to be attributed to slow starts, relaxed defense and dreadful offense. Nevertheless, the Blue Eagles still consistently get victories because of their well-fortified defense. No matter how you shoot badly, you will always get a shot at winning the game because of defense. Ateneo’s last game against Adamson is a very good testament to that.

The Blue and White squad has shown several flashes of brilliance in the second round. Salva, Buenafe, Long and Salamat all have shown that we do have a strong lineup for years to come as each shared breakout games. Rabeh Al-Hussaini is back to his MVP form especially now that he is defending impeccably. Team Ateneo is just extremely talented.

Strengths: Defense, Bench Scoring, Ball Rotation, Free throw Shooting (even if it was worse than last year’s), End-Game Composure, Disciplined Game
Weaknesses: Tendency to be overconfident

2) Far Eastern University Tamaraws. (10-2) They are the strongest foes of the Blue Eagles because they also have a formidable lineup that is deadly on both ends. If Ateneo prides itself with its bench scoring, FEU counters with arguably the strongest starting quintet in the league: Barocca, Garcia, Noundou, Cawaling and Ramos. With this lineup, I tell you, no team stands a chance against them after Ateneo standouts graduate this year. FEU is really on a mission this year because they have been playing steady basketball with the exception of their UE game. They are great in handling the ball and their defense, if not tied, is a close second to Ateneo’s. Their rookies are undoubtedly playing like veterans.

Strengths: Defense, Strong Starting Five, Ball Handling, End-Game Composure
Weaknesses: Tendency to be overconfident

3) University of the East Red Warriors. (7-4) This team is incredibly peaking. You can just notice their high spirits after they trampled the Tamaraws and they defeated the Green Archers. The Warriors were able to sink difficult shots against La Salle that just left the Green Gallery depressed. That, however, is UE’s biggest problem. Even if they have the best passer in the league – Paul Lee – their free-flowing offense does not result to good ball rotation. The primary reason why Ateneo dominated them this season was because UE just cannot shoot the ball from an optimal location.

Strengths: Athleticism, Team Chemistry, Mobile and Ranged Big Men
Weaknesses: Ball Rotation

4) University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. (6-5) High-octane offense. Pido’s Tigers run and gun to trample their opponents. They boast of athletic wingmen which could give matchup nightmares to most teams. UST has overachieved its pre-season expectations as they managed to hold the fourth place despite of having a big hole in the middle. But to say that they are better than last year’s effort is a bit hasty. They have only beaten one team of the Top 5 as of the present time. Pido is not a good technical coach. His run-and-gun style usually hits him back at crucial moments when his pivotal starters run out of gas.

Strengths: Offense, Wingman Mismatch, Athleticism
Weaknesses: Inexperienced Bench, Uncontrolled and Impulsive Gameplay, No Legit Center, Terrible Defense

5) Adamson University Soaring Falcons. (3-9) They may have been eliminated but Coach Austria’s wards have shown strong opposition this year. They can play solid defense and they can control the boards. The only problem is their raw talent and their inability to close out games.

Strengths: Rebounding, Defense
Weaknesses: End-Game Composure, Durability, Basketball IQ

6) University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons. (3-8) Coach Aboy’s boys are starting to grow into men. They are playing a more mature brand of basketball as shown by their defense. Yes, they can defend (that was why they beat Ateneo in the first round). They also boast of great raw talent in Mikee Reyes, Alvin Padilla, and Mark Juruena. The biggest problem though is, they have an on and off switch. Their offensive executions are mediocre as well.

Strengths: Talent, Passion to win
Weaknesses: Inconsistency, Ball Rotation, Ballhandling

7) De La Salle University Green Archers. (4-7) Note: I am not hating on them for placing them here. Note that they have not yet won a game for the whole second round. Both UP and AdU have two wins already. The Archers are definitely struggling. Their vets are not built to be alpha dogs. The inexperience of their rookies poses them problems as well. The system is still there but the vaunted press is easily broken by opposing teams already. Their offense really took a hit this year. I think the vets are demoralized or pressured too much that they cannot sink in wide-open shots. La Salle usually boasts of high basketball IQ but they don’t have it this year. Because of high expectations, the boys from Taft are having a tough time. That is why when I asked “have they peaked?” in a column before, I really meant it. Their offense already went uphill after they beat UST and I doubt if they still reach that. But still, they are NOT YET eliminated.

Strengths: Aggressive Defense, System
Weaknesses: Offense, No Go-To-Guy

8) National University Bulldogs. (2-10) The team really lacks talent. At least, they steal the ball a lot. They also have promising rookies. But the good things end there. The Bulldogs are just terrible in both offense and defense. They also turn the ball a lot.

Strengths: Stealing
Weaknesses: Offense, Defense, Ballhandling

MVP Race
1) Rabeh Al-Hussaini (Ateneo). He has been superb on both sides of the court starting in the second round. He has been the consistent scorer of Ateneo’s starting five. Ball hog? Dude, he has a good field goal percentage to back it up.
2) Dylan Ababou (UST). Statistically, he is the best but for me it is like the Steve Nash effect. His team runs and scores a lot. I think a better measure to get with regard to scoring is to get his percentage contribution from his team’s total score. Also, I do not want him to win because he punched a player. Let’s uphold sportsmanship, please.
3) Paul Lee (UE). His scoring and his passing have done wonders to his team. With a team with lesser talent as compared to FEU and Ateneo, Paul Lee deserves to have his spot in here.
4) Aldrech Ramos (FEU). Another statistical monster. However, FEU has a lot of big-time scorers that overshadows his contribution.
5) Pari Llagas (UE). Consistently Deadly. ‘Nuff said!

Courtside Reporter Rankings
To be honest, this year’s batch is the worst I have watched. There are just too many stuttering and bloopers that I could not help but cringe most of the time. I will just post the good ones.
1) Jessica Mendoza (Ateneo). She is still my Numero Uno in this list but the gap is very close. Jessica’s report content is arguably the best and she has the best reporter voice ever. However, she stutters a lot and is sometimes caught reading in the camera. That can be improved, although I felt sad because she still appears tensed up to now. She appears too serious. Nevertheless, very good report content and very clear voice are two special talents (it’s like defensive capability and shooting stroke for basketball players) that’s why she’s the best so far. My advice: Show a more fun side and have shorter reports.
2) Maan Panganiban (NU). This gal has a good command of English and she delivers it great. Her reports are also informative as well. My only concern is that she talks a lot. Her voice is not as clear as Jessica’s so her lengthy reports get drowned by the background noise. She also had her share of bloopers as well.
3) Tiff Atendido (UE). Very close third. She confidently delivers her reports and these are normally well-done. However, her reports are too lengthy as well. I am not fond of her voice as well.
4) Job de Leon (AdU). Hey, I put a guy in this list! Yeah, I am getting less biased now. I think he does it just right. Nothing special, but nothing bad as well.

Rookie of the Year
1) RR Garcia (FEU). Is this guy qualified? If yes, he should win it. He plays like a veteran and he has bailed out FEU when they play relaxed.
2) Jeric Teng (UST). Very close second. Even if there is a Steve Nash effect, this kid still plays exceptional. His shots are difficult and he hustles a lot.
3) Alvin Padilla (UP) / Pipo Noundou (FEU). Very good stats and they have hugely helped their team in their victories. Padilla scores a ton while Pipo provides the intangibles.

Notes:
• I am not counting out DLSU. Final Four is still attainable and if they win their last three, they have huge momentum going to the playoff.
• Studio 23 should turn off the background volume when the courtside reporters are shown. Their words usually get drowned by the noise.
• They either have lengthy commercials or they just do not coordinate with the referees. It is very common to miss one or two possessions after a commercial break.
• There are too many errors when they show the team names/scores/stats. I cringe every time I see the wrong information flashed on the screens.
• Show replays on dead ball situations, not during the middle of the action!
• I have no issues with the refs. I may have grown some indifference on officiating unless it is a very obvious miss. I am fine with the traveling calls as long as they call it consistently.

Atenista Ako. Ikaw?

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last August 18, 2009.

I entitled this journal entry after the elitist remark that UP supporters in UAAP use: “UP kami. Kayo?” To be honest, I do not really care when they say that because I value my Alma Mater greatly that even if UP or La Salle proclaim that they are better than Ateneo in rankings, it does not matter to me at all. For me, Ateneo is the best undergraduate university in the Philippines. But before this journal entry gets misconceived as an anti-UP writeup (it’s not supposed to be anyway… oh Jeff! Good job on making the UP people turn on you), I will make it clear that this writeup is about how I developed my Atenean pride just the way iskolars ng bayan had their UP pride and say “UP ako, ikaw?” (so there… peace to UP people).

FYI: This would be cut into two writeups as people have been requesting me to shorten my lengthy journals. If you are tired of my UAAP-related journal entries, (then why the heck are you reading this?!) sorry, this is the hot topic these days so you have to bear with me.

The Pre-Ateneo Years

I am not a pure-blooded Atenean. I did not take my elementary and high school years in the land of the Blue and White. Nevertheless, I was already aware of the well-established institution even when I was in grade school. I am not exactly sure when and how I learned of Ateneo but if you asked me during the early ‘90s (during my elementary years), my response would have been, “I think it is one of the best colleges in the country. They produce the brightest lawyers. I want to be a Civil Engineer and since it is not the main thrust of Ateneo (it’s not even offered there), my dream is to enroll my future son in there (for Law).” The only notable colleges for me then were Mapua Institute of Technology (my first dream college because my parents graduated there) and Ateneo de Manila University. I believe that the name contributed a lot in making me appreciate Ateneo. May dating kasi ang pangalan. I was not aware that UP was tops in the academic department that time. I did not regard La Salle that high as well. For me, DLSU was a university for the wealthy people and is good in basketball.

I watched UAAP even in my tender years. Those were the times when Bal David and Chris Cantonjos led UST to four straight championships usually against Jason Webb’s De La Salle Green Archers. I did not actually root for any team then. I usually tried to look for Ateneo’s standing in the back page of the local newspaper only to find the Blue Eagles at the tail end of the league. I usually remarked, “puro matatalino kasi kaya hindi masyado focused sa sports.” I said to myself that I would have easily rooted for Ateneo if they were competitive. The fact that the school’s color was blue made it more appealing to me as it was my favorite color. I grew up loving the color blue. I liked Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the blue lion in Voltron, the blue guy in Bioman. If it was not color-based, I always root for the alpha male characters. Color preference was quite similar with sports where all the teams I rooted for had blue as its dominating color: Purefoods (PBA), Atlanta Braves (MLB), and Utah Jazz (NBA). Aside from red, blue is arguably the alpha male color as well. Since red is sometimes used for females when paired with blue, can I say that blue is the alpha male color?

I grew up wanting to be on the dominant side of things when I was young. I am the eldest in our generation of cousins. I was heralded to be their ‘leader.’ In the first times I watched my favorite sports teams, I witnessed them winning or in the verge of winning championships. Case in point: the first PBA game I watched featured Purefoods winning the All-Filipino title in 1993. The team continued its All-Filipino Cup success by constantly appearing in the Finals. The first baseball game I watched featured Atlanta losing to Toronto Blue Jays in the championship match but the Braves were able to win it all in three years time. Atlanta, even though they just had one World Series win, had been a dominant team as they hold the longest streak of division titles at 14 straight years. The Utah Jazz were not able to win the NBA crown but they were the primary antagonists to Jordan’s Bulls. They all had winning traditions. If your initial experience is championship and your team stays competitive in the following years, chances are, you would have a strong foundation for supporting your team. That or I was just born to be a die-hard fan. I believe Bill Simmons’ unwavering support for the Boston Celtics grew when he was watching them piling up the championships in the ‘80s. I maybe mistaken but I believe that experiencing team success entices one to support his team further.

By the way, I already knew the notion that Ateneans were arrogant then. I did not give a damn. Ateneo is still a great school.

Years went by and by 2001, the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry was intense as they faced each other in the UAAP Finals. By that time, I was more aware of the status of universities. La Salle, unlike the 90’s, was not anymore the bridesmaid of UAAP. Ateneo, unlike the 90s, was not anymore the whipping boy of the league. The hype was very high even in our school (Don Bosco Makati) especially for us - seniors. My classmates chose sides. For me, it was a no-brainer. This was further reinforced when I became more enticed to study in Ateneo after taking up ACET. I rooted for y soon-to-be Alma Mater but I predicted La Salle to win because it was RenRen Ritualo’s final year and the Eagles lacked experience. La Salle did win that year.

In senior year, I took up four entrance tests: Ateneo – BS ME, UP – BS CE, Mapua – BS CE, DLSU – BS CE. From Grade 1 to early fourth year high, I was convinced that I will take up Civil Engineering. But since I was getting very high grades in Math and I was losing interest in drafting, Dad highly recommended me to take up Ateneo’s ME program. It is one of the best undergraduate programs and it suited my mathematical skills well. Besides, the salaries of civil engineers were not that high as well. High offers on ME grads were also being talked about then. ACET’s difficulty made me think that Ateneo is more interesting and challenging. It was easily the most difficult entrance test that time. Those reasons plus the high probability of having attractive female classmates made it a no-brainer when I found out the ACET results on January 2002. I did not even care if DLSU stated that I was on the top something percentage by offering advanced tests so that I do not need to take certain subjects. (I would have actually cared if they released the test results earlier. Haha.) As for UP, I passed it but I have already decided wholeheartedly that time.

The Lucky Freshman Year (2002)

Coming from schools with relatively weak school spirits, it would be easy on my part to be apathetic of Ateneo’s animo. I only wanted to watch the Ateneo-La Salle game for the heck of it. When I found out that the best I could get in the first round game that year was an Upper Box B ticket, I decided to watch on the TV instead. Obviously, I did not know that it was hard to get then. It had to take my Lasallian friend to invite me to watch a game – the second round of the eliminations where DLSU was poised to sweep. We had general admission tickets (Haha! Huge ‘in your face’ to me for belittling the Upper B ticket!) and we got to watch with other high school batchmates who studied in La Salle. Before the game started, taunts and cheers were thrown. The Green Side was really passionate at it (in both good and wrong ways). I felt deprived that I could not cheer for Ateneo and all I could hear were taunts against my school. But then, the dominating La Salle squad faced a huge defeat from the talented squad composed of Enrico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez and Wesley Gonzales. I may have been silent for most of the game but I was euphoric as I saw the blue side celebrating. But because of the rising temper from where I sat, I was doubtful of raising my hands for the Alma Mater song (but I still ended up raising my hands).

That game was the turning point. Before, I would just applaud and revel whenever my favorite team wins. I experienced the usual ‘succeed in the face of adversity’ and other inspiring sports lessons when watching on TV but the experience of watching rivalry and school spirit in live color just put it into a new level. I was able to watch a PBA Finals game before but the intensity was not there. The crowd was usually sitting and they did not have cheering to pump up everyone. In contrast, seeing the sea of blue and green exchange cheers and jeers is just a beauty to behold especially if you are a die-hard fan. Since I watched it initially from the La Salle side, my school loyalty got stronger as I felt the pain of the insults and taunts hurled from the green crowd. I said to myself, “I am watching the next Ateneo-La Salle encounter live and I am going to cheer my heart against you greenies!”

Ateneo went on to face the 2nd placed UE Red Warriors that year and they had one of those classic battles where the series went in full swing. It was where Jec Chia became part of the history books as he made the Hail Mary shot that resurrected the faith of the doubting Ateneo crowd. I was ecstatically celebrating in our house after he made that remarkable jumper. Ateneo is back at the Finals and I had the feeling that this time, it is our turn to grab the title. The Blue Eagles already have their experience and were peaking at the right time. As proud Ateneans unrolled their banner “La Salle, magdasalle na kayo!” in the bleachers, I proclaimed beamingly “La Salle, get ready to have your asses handed to you and this time, I will surely watch live cheering in the Blue side!”

Truth be told, I was able to witness the epic matches. By the time the drums of the Blue Babble Band rolled in Game 1, I stood up and cheered like there was no tomorrow. Game 1 was close and it ended with the remarkable two swats by Larry Fonacier on La Salle’s slotman, Mac Cardona. I missed Game 2 because I was not able to get tickets, but it was just OK because La Salle rebounded in mighty fashion in that game. Game 3 probably triggered the ‘pagiging masikap to get tickets’ attitude from me. I arrived before 6 AM in the Ateneo Tennis Courts to find people camping out with their tents. They even had pillows and guitars as the line started before midnight. I was able to get a General Admission ticket (which went to Mom as Dad was able to buy two Gen Ad tickets the day before). History was made when the Eagles dominated the Mike Cortez-led Green Archers in that final game. After fourteen years, the crown was back in Loyola. I was jubilant after witnessing it, especially, given the fact that we won in my freshman year.

That was the story as to how I developed my strong fan support for the Hail Mary squad. As mentioned, experiencing triumph is a great foothold for die-hard fans. When the going starts to get tough in the next years, you will always find time to reminisce these moments of glory. You look upon this and you remember that you were a winner and you can continue to become one. Rich winning tradition delivers unwavering fan support.

That year, Ateneo’s slogan was “We still believe” but for me, it transformed into “Always Believe.” Ever since then, I was determined to attend games and cheer my heart out for the team. I never experienced euphoria like that in my life especially because I never had schools with remarkable school spirit. I actually used my deprivation as motivation to always treasure how it is to be part of a rich school tradition. I would also have to add that before, I rooted for teams that I am not really part of (NBA and MLB teams are in USA). But starting 2002, I felt a sense of belongingness – I am part of the school that I cheer for.

Greatness. Winning Tradition. Deprivation. Belongingness. Those were the foundations of my pride and support for the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Up to the present time, I still carry these to strengthen my determination to always support and to always believe in the Hail Mary Squad.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

Ateneo Shows La Salle Who’s The King, But FEU Was More Dominant

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last August 9, 2009.

First round over. I just arrived home from the first Ateneo-La Salle game this UAAP season. As usual, I have a hoarse voice after all the cheering and my body aches in several parts after standing, jumping and cheering for 95 percent of the time. That is the Ateneo Die-Hard Fan way. The game awhile ago was arguably the most memorable Ateneo-La Salle regular season game I have attended ever. My current running count is twenty four Ateneo-La Salle games (including Final Four matches) and Ateneo has a 15-9 record. I started watching from 2002 onwards and there were several notable ones like the come-from-14-point-deficit during the Fonacier Era and the 13-1 game with Mike Cortez’s Archers. Of course, we cannot count out the Chris Tiu buzzer beaters in 2007. Today’s game stands out for me though. Here are ten reasons why:

1) It was the Cory game. That in itself makes it legend – wait for it – dary!
2) Both Ateneans and Lasallians united with the color yellow. Save for some shameful deeds from the Green Side of things, the game was a heartwarming treat for all of us.
3) Ateneo came back from an eight-point deficit and win the game in overtime.
4) La Salle showed that they are our arch-rivals by giving their best shot against our veteran-led squad.
5) The two triples that forced overtime left me stunned. Is this possible?!
6) La Salle enkindled the lethargic cheering of Ateneo’s Sixth Man. It was really loud when we chanted One Big Fight and Get That Ball awhile ago. Now, that’s the Ateneo way!
7) Fr. Nemy Que is my first teacher to appear in national TV by leading the prayer with Fr. Oca
8) I got the best seats in Upper B (middle and frontmost seat).
9) I got to cheer with the never-say-die attitude (when we were down by ten) and I got to experience celebrating like a champion (in the last 3 seconds of overtime period).
10) This was the only time when I used the ‘Laban’ sign during the last Ateneo freethrow and after the Ateneo Hymn instead of pointing up with my index finger.

The game was actually a win-win for both schools. Ateneo got the W and proved that they have the higher upside as they were able to pull through despite losing Rabeh and Nonoy in critical stages of the game. Salva, my manok last year proved that he is for real. La Salle, on the other hand, showed that they can match up well against Ateneo and they have gotten a good crop of rookies this year. They really had strong momentum in the early stages of the game when they mounted a strong lead.

However, there were boo-boo’s as well. Here they are:

1) Rabeh is not acting like he is the reigning MVP. He is complaining a lot. Suck it up and adjust, dude. A lot from the crowd shared my sentiments. A lot of them were even complaining on Rabeh’s attitude. His defensive approach (even if it had some shining moments) is mostly prima-donna-ish. He does not defend his area that well that was why Joshua Webb was able to garner a lot of points than he should have.
2) Joshua Webb’s kick on Bakon Austria. That was a WTF moment. Kicking someone on his neck/head is not humane. He already had a great scoring game and he even had to do that unsportsmanlike act.
3) Someone from the green gallery shouted after the prayer to Cory. That was a big act of disrespect.
4) The Green Archers cemented their spot in being the most polarizing team of the decade (in a bad way) with the emergence of Joshua Webb’s trashtalking and in-game kicking. There is a reason why most schools tag them as villains/antagonists. Here are some examples: Mac Cardona, Joseph Yeo, Manny Salgado, Franz Pumaren, Suspension, THES-QS banner, Rico Maierhoffer, and the latest – Joshua Webb. I know that Ateneo has its share of bad eggs but if you have majority of your lineup using trashtalking as a form of intimidation, you will be hated by a lot. Yeah, it is part of the game but it is also the major reason why La Salle Basketball is vilified by many. Don’t get me wrong… DLSU basketball is not DLSU the institution.
5) Referee misses. I actually do not want to complain despite some of the missed calls (after all, the refs are just humans) but in my opinion, Webb should have been ejected from the game. Man, that was a kick in the head. NBA players get ejected when they tackle their opponents as they get charged with a Flagrant-2. UAAP is about college basketball and we should be fostering sportsmanship and you just give an unsportsmanlike foul to someone who kicked his opponent on the head? By the way, they already saw the instant replay of that incident as well.

[I was informed that Webb’s kick was not on the head. My bad on that one. I should get glasses while watching live. Nevertheless, a kick is still a horrible way of retaliating. As what the Ateneo crowd chanted, Webb should be SUS-PEN-DED]

The recent game put Ateneo tied to FEU in the first place while DLSU gets tied with UE and UST. Climbing back from a ten-point deficit is a notable feat for the Blue Eagles but I have to put FEU in the top spot of my quarterly power rankings (2nd quarter) Here are the rankings for the 1st half of elimination round:

1) Far Eastern University Tamaraws. (6-1) Dominating! Six game winning streak. After their opening game loss to the defending champions, the Tamaraws have proven why they are the preseason favorites. Aside from the Smart Gilas trio, FEU boasts of quality rookies in RR Garcia and Pipo Noundou. They demolished Final Four contenders UST Growling Tigers and De La Salle Green Archers. The scary thing is that they are not peaking yet.
2) Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles. (6-1) The UP loss surely blemished their pristine record thus depriving us from having a possible 15-0 record that would signify the 150 years of existence. Ateneo has bounced back from it with a new three game winning streak but last year’s defending champions are nowhere from their dominating form last year. Rabeh gets out of control for a lot of games. Ballhandling was not that superb as before. New diamonds in the rough have been uncovered with Salva and Monfort but Team Ateneo is starting to feel the effects of losing Chris Tiu. Nevertheless, the team has tons of upside as shown in the recent win against the Greenies. Defense is also superb (if Rabeh is not playing).
3) De La Salle University Green Archers. (4-3) They had two embarrassing losses against UE and FEU but they have gained their composure by toppling the next four. It could have been five but their archrivals took advantage of their inexperience. They have promising rookies and they can shoot the lights out. They even managed to come back from a 17-point deficit against UST. The question though is, have they peaked?
4) University of the East Red Warriors. (4-3) They dominated DLSU but they lost to the rampaging Tigers. Nevertheless, they have a more solid lineup than the latter. Also, UE was able to cut the huge FEU lead to four. They even had shining moments against Ateneo. However, they do not have that much of an upside as a team because we have pretty much seen what Llagas, Espiritu and Lee can do. Acuna is promising, though.
5) University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. (4-3) Pido’s wards squeaked out of a game against UP and were disappointing against FEU and DLSU. The offensive machine is starting to show its weaknesses. Jarencio crumbles again when he saw his 17-point lead against La Salle diminish. The team lacks a big man and their defense is weak. Has Pido lost his charm? He has become a whipping boy of systematic teams as they have proven that brain beats heart.
6) University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons. (1-6) This would be the first time that I would put a lower team standing-wise on top of the better because UP has shown enough evidence that they are threatening to pull off upsets every now and then. FEU, UST and UE had hard times in disposing the Maroons. They also beat top-seeded Ateneo with their hard-nosed defense. Unfortunately, they were just able to get one win in the span of seven games.
7) National University Bulldogs. (2-5) I should be putting the Nationals at the bottom of my rankings because they play lousy basketball. Ateneo even fielded its third unit with some minutes remaining in the game when they faced NU. The team just struggles a lot offensively and defensively. Is this investment gone wrong for Henry Sy? Nevertheless, they were able to eke out two W’s (last was against Adamson) so I will put NU on seventh.
8) Adamson University Soaring Falcons. (1-6) As much as I love their fighting spirit and competitiveness by giving major thrills against UE, FEU, DLSU, and UST, Leo Austria’s team wounds up last because they lost to the Bulldogs recently. AdU’s win against UP was not convincing either. They can pose a challenge but it seems that they ‘just do not want to win.’ Is this the culture of losing haunting them every time they get the golden opportunity to bag the W?

Courtside Reporter Power Rankings: (I am not putting Job de Leon in this list so that I won’t be biased on his gender)
1) Jessica Mendoza. (Ateneo) No challenge at all. She is beautiful and smart at the same time. Je delivers eloquent reports. I think she excels when she researches/interviews. I observed that when I watched from Patron. Best of the batch. However, she should prevent stuttering. Even if she is the best this year, she is still miles away from Lia Cruz when the latter was at that stage of her courtside reporting career. I love the informative Jessica but I guess she can show some of the bubbly side that she brings in Magic 89.9’s Top 5@5. That makes her more natural. The reason why Lia, Patty, Tracy, Sharon and Rheena were great was because they did it naturally and confidently. That or add some flavor and personality like Gretchen.
2) Kryzelle O’ Connor (FEU). She handles her reports confidently and is a bit pretty at certain angles.
3) Maan Panganiban (NU). Very informative reports. I like the content a lot.
4) Tiff Atendido (UE). Same as Maan… she is slowly going up the list because she is providing quality reports.
5) Riki Flores (UP). I initially thought that she could battle Je in the beauty department but as days go by, I was actually mistaken. Riki, other than ‘not being able to battle Je in the beauty department’, can still be funny though. I can still remember her mentioning “yung pilay niyan malayo pa sa tiyan kaya maglalaro pa siya.”
6) Pach Cansana (UST)
7) Erin Torrejon (DLSU)

Most Valuable Player Power Rankings:
1) Dylan Ababou (UST) – if UST gets eliminated, goodbye MVP dreams.
2) Nonoy Baclao (Ateneo) – I said it before and I will say it again. (oops! That was on Twitter) Nonoy is Ateneo’s MVP. The effect is clearly seen with the number of altered/blocked shots from the opposing team. With the way Rabeh has been lazy in the defensive end, I have appreciated Nonoy more. Defense wins games. ‘Nuff said!
3) Aldrech Ramos (FEU) – stat-wise
4) Paul Lee (UE)
5) Mark Barrocca (FEU) – leadership-wise

Rookie of The Year:
1) Jeric Teng (UST) This kid was supposed to be ours!
2) RR Garcia (FEU)
3) Arvie Bringas (DLSU) This kid was about to be ours as well

That’s all for now. Go Ateneo. One Big Fight! =)

Farewell, Cory

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last August 5, 2009.

This journal entry should be about the continuation of the previous one (especially that I have finished writing it anyway), but I opt to give a small tribute to our late President Corazon Aquino.

Today, I witnessed for the very first time a funeral of a Philippine president. I planned to rest the whole day but since Cory’s funeral was being aired on TV, I took the opportunity to watch it. In this simple way, I will pay tribute to the first Philippine president in my life.

I am a Cory Baby. OK, I am technically a Marcos baby because I was born eight months before the dictator was ousted. Thus, Cory was the first president I saw relaying her message to the Filipino people in national television. I can still remember those carefree years of childhood when I used to hang out in my grandparents’ bedroom then seeing Cory Aquino in the television deliver her message. I did not know what she was talking about then. To be honest, I never knew any of her significant contributions by the time she blessed Fidel Ramos as her presidential candidate. All I could remember then was the time when I saw jet planes from our topmost floor in Mandaluyong because there was a coup d’état surfacing. I can also remember that upon seeing my toddler pictures, my parents told me that I liked the color yellow especially when I wore the People Power sando and I drove my yellow toy car. Times passed. Yellow is not my favorite color anymore, but I was the yellow boy then… or can we say golden boy. (OK, I like the latter better. Haha!)

After her presidency, Cory was still a prominent figure. I also got to learn her and my shirt’s relevance in my Social Studies classes. I envied those who were present when the revolution took place. All my parents could narrate to me about it was that they were having a hard time commuting while carrying me as a baby during those times. Little did I know that history will repeat itself. In my junior year in high school, I was able to witness Cory Aquino in another EDSA revolution. This time I was there when it happened. I got to see the then-opposition shut a lid on Erap’s regime as GMA assumed presidency with help of Chief of Justice Davide. I did not actually like GMA as a figurehead then so I was more inspired upon seeing Cory’s speech in the television (we already left EDSA then) when she implored the people to always pray.

To be honest, Cory was not the perfect president for the Philippines. I have heard of stories of her decision lapses when she was the president. She suffered several coup d’états thus staining her regime. Some people can say that it was not her doing as to why Marcos was toppled. It was just more of a circumstance. But after all these, she was still highly regarded by millions of Filipinos. I do too. It was not her whole doing as to why democracy was restored in 1986, but she was still the figurehead of the dramatic change that occurred. She had that charisma and strength to assume presidency after the Marcoses left Malacanang. She was the rallying point when Filipino nationalism was at a high (i.e., EDSA 1 and her current death). Even if I was at a very tender age when EDSA Revolution occurred, I was influenced by Cory (like that People Power shirt). Call it insignificant, but it was part of my life.

I was too young when controversies blemished her presidential term so I cannot give my statement on that but as far as I am concerned, she showed strong character to the Filipinos. The fact that she finished her regime despite the coup attempts should be a lesson on strength and determination. Her religious actions should inspire this Catholic nation to strengthen our faith in God. Even the way she helped Kris Aquino on her controversies should be a lesson on unconditional love and fortitude. Say what you want on her about being a weak president, but all I can say is that her personality and character is one of the best inspirations in our society nowadays. Sometimes, all we need is a hero for us to wake up from our failures. Hopefully, Cory is that hero. She made mistakes before but hey, heroes are humans too.

Thus, I end this journal entry by thanking our former president – Corazon Aquino – for being an inspiration to us, Filipinos.

Farewell, Tita Cory.

Ateneo's Hell Week: Hell What?

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last July 19, 2009.

The third Ateneo game in UAAP Season 72 has just finished awhile ago and that ends the Ateneo Blue Eagles' version of their Hell Week as they battled arguably the top three contenders of the UAAP Men's Basketball this year. From last Sunday (July 12) up to this Sunday (July 19), Ateneo faced pre-season favorite FEU, always-a-playoff-contender UE and undefeated UST. When the dust settled, we have an idea of how the UAAP Season 72 would turn to be.

As the defenders of the crown, Team Ateneo showed that they were for real by defeating all of their competitive opponents. They started by defeating the season's hosts - the FEU Tamaraws. Ateneo led the game all the way with FEU having some scary spurts. I am skeptical into thinking that this could be the preview of what might happen in this year's Finals because of several reasons. Mark Barroca, despite showing flashes of brilliance, was not his dominating self. He just scored twelve points and if you are going to compare that to his last year's version, there is barely a change in the stat sheet for a guy who was praised as the premiere point guard of the league. I think there was a bit of overconfidence on his part. I am going to credit the Ateneo defense but Mark Barroca did not impose himself that much on that game. I expect him to attack better in the next encounter.

FEU's rookies are rookies. RR Garcia was remarked as a favorite to grab this year's Rookie of the Year. Watch that game and you will see that he is shooting blanks. That is acceptable. I have seen very much hyped Ateneo rookies over the years who had worse performances. RR actually broke out as early as his second game this season so expect this guy to be the deadly shooter that could break the Ateneans' hearts as the season progresses. Noundou showed promise by having nice post-up defense against Rabeh and scoring nine points. But he still had flaws. After all, he is a rookie. Both of these were highly touted rookies but they just provided as of the glimpse of their potential. FEU is a scary team to watch.

Nevertheless, this was Ateneo's game to take. Defense and bench scoring were the key factors. Baclao was in his swatter and shot-altering form as intimidated FEU scorers found it hard to penetrate inside. Kirk Long, amidst having an offensive concern, was a steady lockdown defender. Buenafe, Salva and Monfort combined for 27 points off the bench.

I maybe scared (to some degree) of the FEU Tamaraws but the Blue Eagles were not in their peak form either. Al Hussaini (6/16), Reyes (3/12) and Salamat (2/9) were inefficient scorers. Nonoy Baclao could have contributed with a low post score or two. Even the bench scoring did not surprise me. Ryan Buenafe was last year's most-coveted rookie for no reason. Salva was a scoring machine back in high school. As for Monfort, his scoring appeared like an "Alston game" then but after watching the game awhile ago, he has established himself as an offensive option off the bench. If we are expecting a lot from highly touted rookies, we should expect more from sophomores.

Next up: The University of the East Red Warriors. This red machine squad previously massacred the La Salle Green Archers and could upset the Blue Eagles with their free wheeling offense. I actually missed the first half of this game because I had to travel from Fort Bonifacio to Greenbelt in Makati. I watched it at the National Sports Grill when UE led by two at the halftime. It did not elicit any reaction from me but had I known that UE mounted an enormous 17 point lead at some point in the first half, I would have been more excited.

The Warriors gave the Katipunan-based squad a scare because of the red-hot shooting of Val Acuna. They bombed threes but as I expected from Norman Black's squad, they will inch closer by being composed. This has always been one of the main characteristics of Ateneo in the past years. When their opponents have a run, the Blue Eagles settle down. No need to hurry. Of course, there were painful instances when I had to endure them losing pivotal games to UST and DLSU before because Team Ateneo could not sustain their opponents' momentum. But, controlling the situation and playing as you are supposed to do in a normal ball game is one step to being successful. And they did in this game. Slowly but surely, they tied the game and delivered the finishing blow. From a seventeen point deficit to a fifteen point win.

What happened to UE's hot shooting? A low 29.41% field goal percentage tells you the story. The Law of Averages caught up with them and since they have already fallen in love with their shots, they threw brick after brick as their confidence level fell. Same old story: it was defense. This is the very same thing that brought Ateneo back to glory last year. That and the same ingredient to Season 71's success which is Rabeh's inside scoring. It was that simple: defend and dish the ball to your big man. How old school. Simple yet effective.

As for the Red Warriors? Their free-wheeling offense was like SSOL gone crazy. D'Antoni's Suns never defeated the fundamentally sound San Antonio Spurs then; what makes you think that an SSOL gone mad team would beat the defensive juggernaut Blue Eagle team?

The Hell Week officially ended today. It was against the 2-0 UST Growling Tigers. Pido Jarencio's squad is rookie-laden and we must remember that he has not yet beaten Ateneo ever since he upset them last 2006. I was saying to myself that the Blue Eagles might be fatigued after facing the possible two best teams they could battle with. UST had an easier route of Adamson and NU so upset is a possibility. But Ateneo still remains as the clear favorite to win this game.

The Blue Eagles just showed why they have the bulls-eye at their backs. They slaughtered the Growling Tigers with no remorse. No matter how Pido fueled up his team, the Hail Mary Squad just continued to claw at the helpless Tigers by mounting twenty point leads. Without a Jervy Cruz holding the fort and providing the easy two, UST had few offensive options. For the third straight game, Kirk Long had a sterling performance as a defender. Ababou scored on 6 out of 19 attempts.

Final score was 93-77. Do not let it fool you into thinking that Ateneo did not play defense. The game was mostly fast-paced and the Growling Tigers were with their starting lineup until the last minute. The commentators actually stopped talking about the game itself halfway into the fourth. Pido was just relentlessly instilling the never-say-die attitude to his team.

But the reason was not purely on defense. It was more on Eman Monfort's breakout performance. He shot the lights out with six rainbow shots. Ryan Buenafe (14), Eric Salamat (14), and Al-Hussaini (13) all contributed on the offensive end. This year's version is just loaded on all positions. We did not even need Jainamite to explode.

Ateneo's Hell Week was more of a Heaven Week for Ateneo hoops fans. We were treated to a strong defensive team which has a reliable offense that has a high ceiling. The Eagles soared but I think we are just starting. I just hope that the team has this same confidence and composure when we are battling at the games that matter.

On a side note, it was a Jessica Mendoza week for me as well. I got a dose of seeing the past ACET topnotcher thrice in TV as she delivered dead-on reports. Beauty and brains, indeed. She was able to catch the most significant messages by Norman Black awhile ago from 'starting slow in the previous games' to 'not letting up in the final quarter'. Great job so far.

As for commentators, let me just say that I could not resist the temptation to write Boom Gonzales' quotable quotes from the Adamson-UP game last Saturday. I just do not like the way he creates his own basketball language. He is creative in a way but he has to deliver more credibility before fans would accept his own lingo. Here they are: (FYI, this just came on the last three minutes of that ball game)

renew his relationship with the free throw line - shoot a free throw

send back to earth - block

pendulum-swinging game - tight ball game which features several lead changes

cleaned up that rim - ball circles around the rim

uncork - shoot

For more Boom Gonzales' invented terms, check out Mond's blog - http://pinoykonyoguide.blogspot.com/

By the way, I think the most decent of the commentators would be Luigi Trillo based on the Ateneo game awhile ago. He had sensible analysis on how the Ateneo roster was structured through the years. The season is a long way to go but his commentating was the best so far. I guess it just runs through their veins.

Let me end with my early season power rankings.

Courtside Reporters: (Since I have tweeted a lot on this)
1. Jessica Mendoza (Ateneo)
2. Kryzelle O' Connor (FEU)
3. Maan Panganiban (NU)
4. Erika Flores (UP)
5. Pach Cansana (UST)
6. Tiff Atendido (UE)
7. Job de Leon (AdU) - sorry, you're a guy but I should actually put him higher
8. Erin Torrejon (DLSU)

By the way, follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffdelprado

Most Valuable Player Race:
1. Rabeh Al-Hussaini (Ateneo)
2. Mark Barroca (FEU)
3. Dylan Ababou (UST)
4. Paul Lee (UE)
5. Aldrech Ramos (FEU)

UAAP Teams
1. Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles (3-0)
2. University of the East Red Warriors (2-1)
3. University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers (2-1)
4. Far Eastern University Tamaraws (1-1)
5. Adamson University Soaring Falcons (1-1)
6. National University Bulldogs (1-2)
7. University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons (0-2)
8. De La Salle University Green Archers (0-2)

Number 1 is a no brainer. Ranks 2-4 are quite close but I put UE in front because like FEU, they owned DLSU big time. Like UST, they dominated NU as well. UST and FEU are actually tied but I put UST ahead because the had Win # 2. Anyway, we are not sure if NU or DLSU is better. Adamson beats NU because Adamson could have been 2-0 had they won the squeaker of a game they had with UST. UP beats DLSU because on the point differentials and the fact that UP almost won their game against Adamson.

I guess that's all for now.

Go Ateneo! One Big Fight!

Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s the UAAP Season 72!

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last July 15, 2009.

As promised, here is my first UAAP writeup of the year. This should have been a preview but with the first weekend of the basketball season finished, I do not think it is appropriate to tag this as one. I have already caught the UAAP fever and things are already heating up. Tomorrow, my Ateneo Blue Eagles will battle the UE Red Warriors and before another Ateneo game passes without a journal entry from me, I guess I have to finish this as soon as I can.

Last year, I discussed the various UAAP experiences and moments all throughout the season. It was a very eventful year as my Alma Mater prevailed as the champions. Nostalgic as I could be, I will take a step back and delve on the lighter things in life with regard to collegiate basketball. It is great to start it nice and easy as we do not want to get burned out during the more important parts of the season.

And besides if I am going to talk of moments and nostalgia, I will run out of it eventually…

Days ago, I was freaking sick in our team outing. I arrived home exhausted but my mind and heart were not yearning for immediate rest. The reason? It’s the UAAP season! The Ateneo Blue Eagles were facing their potentially strongest competitors – the FEU Tamaraws. Strange as it can be, my exhaustion and sickness take the back seat whenever I watch UAAP games. I even damaged my throat cheering loud and perspired a sea of sweat despite of an illness during an Ateneo – La Salle game before and I ended up losing my weak condition after it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the UAAP season!

I admit it: I am a hardcore UAAP fan. Ever since I became an Atenean, I crave for every UAAP game on TV. I line up for tickets and I cheer my heart out even if I am situated at the General Admission area in Araneta. I am blogging right now even if I am supposed to be resting. But, I am just one of the millions of UAAP fans. At school or in work, I converse with various UAAP fans day in and day out. Thus, I have come to a realization of the various types of UAAP fans.

Types of UAAP Fans

You may be classified as one or more of these. So, to which category do you belong?

Fair-Weathered Fan. This is very common in all sports. Most people actually fall in this category. Everybody loves winners and nobody loves losers. That is the thinking of a fair-weathered fan. He cheers for his team when they are succeeding. But if his team is a cellar dweller, he immediately loses all of his association to his team. Die hard fans usually hate these fair-weathered fans

Gambler. +3 ang La Salle? La Salle ako! +12 ang UP? Sa kalaban ako! I have seen a lot of people gambling on UAAP games. Even my friends chip in some of their money way back in college to gain more as they predict who wins given the point differentials. Whoever gambles, usually forget their loyalties. They root for the team they predict to win. Of course, think of yourself first. Although there is a minority who gamble in order to have a better feeling should their school lose.

The Non-Fan. They just do not like to watch UAAP. It’s OK as long as they do not make fun of the irrational stuff that fans do. If you do, shame on you. At some point in your life, you become irrational or impractical to chase your dreams and desires.

One Big Jerk. This term refers to people who suddenly root for the opposing team of their friend/enemy. It is either they do this for playful reasons or they are just jerks. Either way, they still root and cheer so they are counted as fans.

The Pasikat Fan. Go to an Ateneo-La Salle game and you will see lots of these. These are fans who go to games just to be seen because it is the ‘in’ thing. They do not care for the game as much as the real fans do. They could be celebrities. This type of fan draws parallelisms to celebrity fans in the Staples Center who watch games to get some spotlight. When the opposing team starts to mount a huge lead, the pasikat fans are the ones who usually fall dead silent. If the game is all but over in the dying minutes, they head for the exits instead of waiting to sing the Alma Mater song.

The Blogger. When I started blogging about UAAP three years ago, I realized that there were actually a lot of bloggers as well. They put in their analysis or they just bring out their emotions via Web. They are not journalists but they try to spend some time giving out their opinions on how the game transpired. Last year, I followed one important blogger. I do not know if we are going to consider him as a fan but he did blog a lot after their games. So help me out, can we consider Chris Tiu a fan and a player or just a player?

The TV Fan. A large part of the UAAP fan population falls under this category. Some do not have time to watch the games live. Others see it more as a hassle and consider it as costly. Several of them are just too far from the metropolitan area that is why all they could do is sit in front of their TV sets. Whatever way you put it, you cannot say they are not real fans because they can be as passionate as the ticket holders in their own ways. Now that UAAP is on HD TV, being a TV fan suddenly has some perks.

The Ticket Holder. These are the passionate UAAP fans who line up or who shell out their precious pay day money to greedy scalpers just to be part of the experience. That or they are just lucky ones who have contacts. But if you are a passionate ticket holder who has principles of not buying scalped tickets, you know that lining up at 4 AM does not give you a sure Upper A ticket. You also know that lining up takes longer than watching the actual game. And you should probably have the knowledge that you should arrive hours before the actual game so that you can sit at a very good location.

The PE Attendance Fan. This does not apply to Ateneans because it’s not required. Either way, tickets are always scarce for us. But for other schools, watching live UAAP games and cheering for their teams is a requirement in their PE class. If only there was a class like this that would allot tickets to their students when I was in college, I would have taken it.

The Scalper. Shame on you!

Mr. Adidas/Nike. The merchandise man. These fans are so into the marketing hype of the top brands that they buy expensive branded merchandise of their school. This was hugely apparent last year and I must admit, I fall into this category.

The Balimbing. This is the Filipino version of the bandwagon fan. They could also be fair-weathered fans to some extent because they jump from strong team to strong team, forgetting that they do have to support their losing school.

The Die-Hard Fan. These are the fans who stand by their school, win or lose. Down by 20 points, who gives a damn! Die hard fans will still cheer their hearts out that you may think that they are the ones who are leading. They defend their school with pride and honor. They understand that there is a deeper meaning when you root for your school – it is not all about winning as what matters the most is that you uphold values of sportsmanship. They can be abnormally passionate at times but God bless them for they are the real and loyal fans.

I am not going to classify myself as one of these but you probably know where I should fall in. And so, the fan that I was, I continued watching as Ateneo mounted a huge second quarter lead last Sunday. Nice start of the season for us, I guess. Wait a minute… it is the start of the season! Therefore, we have a new courtside reporter. One of the things that I get excited at whenever I watch UAAP is to find out if our courtside reporter is attractive and interesting. I do not know if this applies to other people: I usually get excited to watch games in which I like the courtside reporter. Yup, even the bottom dwelling teams. Of course, I always watch Ateneo games but having an awesome courtside reporter is a big bonus.

Halftime break. We were leading so I expected our courtside reporter to be flashed in the screens after the halftime cheers. Lo and behold! A cute face was shown and she actually has a great voice. As I watched the rest of the game, I observed that we have a great courtside reporter. Well, Ateneo has always had great courtside reporters but what we have this year has great potential. In fact, she was the topnotcher in ACET. Beauty and brains. That’s the Ateneo way! Ladies and gentlemen, our Season 72 Courtside Reporter: Jessica Mendoza!

It actually made me think… which school has produced the best courtside reporters through the years. I can only attest from 2002 onwards but here is my observation so far:

1. Ateneo de Manila University. No biases here. Ateneans produced the best courtside reporters this decade. We had two years each of Patty Laurel and Lia Cruz. Last year, I ranked them as my top two courtside reporters as they have transcended from the normal cute girl who can report status. They have been engaging, interesting and their reports have been filled with great content. Their post-UAAP success further establishes the fact that they excelled in their fields. Patty had stints in MTV and Breakfast of Studio 23 while Lia is the face of BTV. Other than them, Ateneo has always had above average talent or beauty. Kamae and Portia delivered great content last year while Vanna and Chinie were exceptionally beautiful.

2. De La Salle University. Even in here, La Salle shows that they are worthy rivals to Ateneans. For this decade, they have matched well with their Katipunan counterparts in the battle of beauty and brains. Remarkable ones would have to be Sharon Yu and Mickey Deles. Sharon is very pretty and adds a bubbly aura in her reports. It just that it gets a bit lengthy at times. When it comes to attractive reporters, La Salle always has that plethora to showcase

3. University of the East. One name stands out: Tracy Abad. OK, she is not from UE but I am counting the reporters as part of the schools where they report in because it would be bloody tiring to search all of their actual schools. Tracy is another one of them beauty and brains combined in one package. UE also had two beautiful reporters before but I forgot their names. Either way, they are worthy of the third spot just like their basketball team as always. Haha.

4. University of the Philippines. Even if their basketball team has been the whipping boys of UAAP, I still get excited when watching them because I will always remember Gretchen Fullido talking at the stands. She will always be one of the remarkable courtside reporters this decade (especially given the fact that she was the only one who had three years of reporting). She is still prominent up to the present time as she has segments in TV Patrol. The only downside when watching her then was the fact that she has tendencies to show her biases than be objective. One can still be objective and interesting at the same time. Either way, her pluses outweigh that minus.

5. Far Eastern University. You guessed it right: Andi Manzano. Yeah, she made watching the struggling Tamaraws easy to watch then. But it was only for one season. But still, FEU had the likes of Jam Alindogan who was great in delivering substantial reports. However, I am not attracted to her physically.

6. University of Santo Tomas. They always had good potential because their reporters come from their school. I am just not that into morenas and reporting in Filipino. Don’t get me wrong… I love the Filipino language but if someone talks to you in English, you respond in English. But that’s just me. The last courtside reporter that I liked was the petite mestiza – Rheena Villamor. That was on my sophomore year in college.

OK, I retract my previous statement. I am still biased in this ranking. Haha.

7. Adamson University. They always have guys as their courtside reporters. Either way, there is still substance that is why I put them over NU.

8. National University. There is a bit of substance still for this school’s courtside reporters but it’s not enough to topple Adamson. Also, I did not find any NU reporter interesting as well.

There you go with my now-it-is-biased-because-I-prefer-mestizas-over-morenas ranking.

The game last Sunday eventually ended with Ateneo winning and with me screaming and rejoicing. I heaved a sigh of relief because I consider FEU as the strongest contender to the throne that Ateneo is defending. I somehow have an idea of how strong the teams are so I have some predictions laid out.

If last year was a lopsided year, then this year will probably make last year look like a fair free-for-all. Two contenders from last year, La Salle and UST, are both rookie-laden. La Salle showed its immaturity when UE demolished them. Even the Red Warriors are not as awesome because they lost James Martinez to a season-ending injury. They also lost their best player/choker, Marcy Arellano, as well. They were struggling a lot last year so even if they pull an upset or two against either Ateneo or FEU in the eliminations, I am still not threatened by the Red Warriors. UP should be a dark horse but their lousy game last Sunday just showed that some things never change. Adamson can pose as a threat but they still have to win games before I begin believing. NU lost a handful of their stars from last year as well. It just leaves us with Ateneo and FEU. Ateneo is a complete team and is still considered the best defensive team in the league. FEU, on the other hand, has two rookies with high potential in Nondou and Garcia. The former gives me the creeps because he is tall and agile at the same time. And of course, FEU boasts of Mark Barroca. Thus, my prediction would be:

Final Four:
Ateneo
FEU
UE
La Salle – yes, I still believe their system can put them to Final Four but I won’t be surprised if it won’t.

Finals:
Ateneo
FEU

Champion: too close to call. I do not have an idea of FEU’s potential yet so I cannot predict who will win among the two. I just hope that it is a Blue year again.

More of This, Less of That

I am going to end this article with my wishes for the new UAAP season.

More passionate cheering, less bad mouthing. I hope that even if this season can be potentially lopsided, fans would still cheer like there is no tomorrow. What makes UAAP experience the best there is in the country is because of the passionate cheering. It fuels up the teams and it makes watching live 100 times better than on TV. I just hope that the passionate fans would control their temper better. Bad words will fly in the air, I know. But, if it would be lessened, everyone would be in a better competitive state.

More graceful losers, less whiners. Losing is one of the toughest things that fans have to endure. But accepting defeat is what separates men from the boys. There can only be one. So when you lose, be proud of what your team has done. Start by applauding the opposing team during their Alma Mater song and you might feel better because deep inside you know you are doing what you ought to do. Now that we have a new set of referees, I just hope that there would be fewer complaints. One thing I learned in the past years is to just let go of bad calls. Referees are humans anyway. Bad calls are part of the game.

More tickets, less scalpers. I hope that the new solution set up by Montinola to prevent scalping would work. I am skeptical of it but I know that it is way lot easier for me to have tickets if the only game during the day is the Ateneo-La Salle game.

More chicks! Of course! I don’t care from which school they come from. =P

More real fans, less bashers. Be sport. Batu-bato sa langit, ang tamaan huwag magalit. Ang pikon ay palaging talo.

More competitive atmosphere, less pasikat people.

More analysis, less biases.

More of One Big Fight, less quitters. This is my call for the Atenean community. It is highly improbable that we are going to have a breeze-through year like last year. So when the times get tough, I hope that we continue to cheer our team. It is depressing to see your team losing. It is more depressing if you see the fans quitting on them. We have a sterling chance this year but we have a tendency to relax because we have already achieved last year. Yup, it sure is hard to reach higher if you are already at the peak. But it does not end there. So, I am hoping that we give our best shot similar to how we gave it when we have not achieved yet. One Big Fight!