Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last August 25, 2008.
Yesterday, I watched Team USA’s Redeem Team beat their toughest rivals in this year’s Olympics – Spain – in a nitty-gritty battle that ended with the land of the brave and the free getting the top plum. It was a sight to see LeBron, Kobe and company redeem their country’s basketball after losing it in the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, they had to deal with a peaking Spanish squad as they had a great amount of scare when the Spaniards cut the lead to two in the fourth quarter of their duel. Fortunately for the Americans, the hottest shooter from Spain – Rudy Fernandez – accumulated his fifth foul causing him to seat. He watched his team implode when USA dealt the finishing blow on them. This game was a lost opportunity for the Spaniards because, I think, they were peaking at the right time as USA is starting to feel the effects of post-peaking as they have seen their leads sliced to lower deficits in their final two games. This just shows that a team with superb talent could withstand a team that is peaking at the right time.
Yes, but Team USA is just too special because they are the cream of the crop of NBA whereas other teams, including that of Spain, boasts of NBA bench players. It is 99% expected that USA will win it all. Team USA has been dominating their opponents by twenty to thirty points per game. The biggest problem of USA was peaking at the wrong time but as we have seen in their final battle, they just made a statement, “peaking my ass.”
“Peaking my ass.” That very statement is probably untrue when it comes to UAAP Men’s Basketball. Ever since I started watching UAAP Basketball, the teams that got the championship were teams that peaked at the right time. The past two seasons evidently exhibited that as the rallying UST Growling Tigers shocked the Ateneo community in 2006, and La Salle Green Archers showed the Philippines that the undefeated UE Red Warriors were, in fact, beatable by trouncing them 2-0 in the Finals. It just goes to show that it does not matter how you play in your first games. What matters more is how you end it.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles have been soaring as of late. They have beaten all of the teams they have faced in the second round of eliminations. FEU, Adamson, UST, UE, and UP have all fallen victims to the top team in UAAP. Ateneo is the clear leader of the tourney and a win against the lowly NU Bulldogs would state them as the 1st place team in the eliminations round. So far, so good. Team Ateneo has beaten every high profile team that stood its way ever since they got their lone loss from the FEU Tamaraws. This winning streak gives us the question, “Are we peaking?”
Peaking is seen whenever teams manage to pull off winning streaks despite strong contention. Ateneo did just that when it was able to beat top teams like FEU, UST and most notably, UE. Ateneo’s recent win over UE was incredibly special because everyone thought that Ateneo was about to lose it as they shot horribly 29% from the field and committed 21 turnovers. That is pretty uncharacteristic for the best team in the league but Ateneo somehow managed to beat all odds as they came from behind and beat the energetic Red Warriors. How? Defense. Baby, defense wins games. It has been said year in and year out. Ateneo’s defense just cannot be denied then.
Peaking teams click on all cylinders. Ateneo just exhibited that when they defeated FEU, UST and UE. They might have experienced an almost-endgame collapse against FEU but they were able to show the Filipinos that they can overcome their main weakness – three point shooting. This was also shown against UST as Ateneo rained from downtown as the Jervy Cruz-led Tigers gave up in the final minutes as the lead grew large. Lastly, UE’s 2-3 zone defense backfired when the Blue Eagles sniped from the three-point arc four times in the last five minutes of regulation to resurrect the team after being down by eight.
Peaking teams have no more upside. Duh! Peaking is hitting your ceiling. You have simply exhausted every potential that you have. In short, there is nothing to improve on. If you can be like Tiger Woods in Accenture’s advertisement because he always comes up with new revisions to improve his performance, then that’s good – sky’s the limit for you, my friend. I am not saying that it is not possible in basketball, however the tournament just consists of few games. If you peak at the wrong time, chances are, you will have a difficult time during the playoffs when teams start to expose your weaknesses. By the time you try to revise your game, you just found out that you were eliminated. That is why peaking is important in short tournaments like the UAAP.
And now, I pose the question once again, “Are we peaking?” It looks like we are. The Blue Eagles are clicking on all cylinders. They have managed to defeat the strong teams in succession. Their star players have been working their asses off that it scares me to think if they still have something to show when the bigger games arrive. But then, we must also remember that this year’s team is way lot talented than last year’s 2nd runner up team. Chris Tiu has become more mature and has been more aggressive. No more wait-for-the-pass Chris. He will take in charge as if his life depended on it. He does not even care if it would entail him as a ballhog. Anyway, he will never be a ballhog in the eyes of the Ateneans who have seen him pass the ball relentlessly in his early years. Rabeh Al-Hussaini is better than Ford Arao was in ALL categories (except on fastbreak). Nevertheless, he has turned into a scoring machine and a decent defensive presence. Nonoy Baclao is his same shotblocking self but I believe that he has brought better things intangibly this season as all opposing teams have been scared of his shotblocking prowess inside. Eric Salamat is the best on-ball defender and is UAAP’s best thief. His steals contribute not just on the team’s score but also to its momentum as well. Jai Reyes has been a reliable press breaker and Ryan Buenafe has been mature in terms of gameplay that he did not have the rookie aura. His freaking double-pump game-winning shot against UE just showed that this kid can bring a lot for years to come. Simply put, this team just oozes with talent. There is no doubt that Ateneo has the best starting five in the league.
Pundits might say that UST has the best starting five with Jervy Cruz, Dylan Ababou and Japs Cuan in the mold. However, I think Ateneo has the better one. UST might be better offensively but basketball is defense and offense at the same time. UST has the talent but Ateneo’s combination of a dominant big man, a strong interior defense, a slasher, and three point shooters make it more complete. Add Eric Salamat in the picture and you have the deadliest five in UAAP Basketball this season.
Nevertheless, we are uncertain if Ateneo has reached its peak level. It is highly likely but as long as the team has not lost a game to end their streak, its peaking has not yet ended. Are they in the wrong time of peaking? Possibly. But that is Coach Norman Black’s job. He must adjust the team and prepare for counter-attacks from other teams as they try to disrupt Ateneo’s fundamental way of playing. The team may not be as talented or relatively talented as the US Men’s Team but if the Blue Eagles have the sufficient talent, motivation and still have something left in their sleeves for the biggest stage of them all, the team can win it all. I think if there is one thing that should fuel the team in the Final Four and in the Finals (if they reach it) is, passion and some secret weapons. With the talent from the bench (hey we have the best of this year’s recruiting class and we still have Kirk Long!), I think Ateneo still has an upside. It is a matter of optimizing the team’s strengths.
To the Blue Eagles: Thanks for the comfortable eliminations round. You guys showed that you are for real. However, it is not yet enough. It is just starting. The last thing that the team has to be at this stage is to be complacent. You might have enjoyed the pleasure of beating every team in the eliminations but all of it disappears once you step into the bigger games. Just think of all the failures of the past and try to redeem yourselves similar to the Americans’ Redeem Team. It’s not just about beating La Salle; it is about getting the coveted crown. Team Ateneo’s Redeem Team, bring back the pride. It’s been six years. One Big Fight!
Off Topic:
If there are main obstacles to the Blue Eagles’ goal to win the crown that would have to be La Salle or FEU. Yes, I am not anymore writing off the FEU Tamaraws. They have proven that they are for real when they convincingly beat the Green Archers. I just hope that they are not of the same calibre as Arwind Santos’ Tamaraws when they spoiled Ateneo’s bid for back-to-back in 2003. This team might already be peaking and I hope they are because they really are scary. La Salle, on the other hand, is still La Salle. Whenever Ateneo duels La Salle, it is not just about being better talent-wise. It is about school pride and like people usually say, throw away the statistics and record books. It’s always 50-50. UE should be the easiest as compared to La Salle, FEU and UST but I still believe that they are scary as they have shown that they can match Ateneo in their two elimination round games. Furthermore, they are hungry (possibly hungrier) and are in the right position to peak. Thus, I am not discounting any team but I am wishing for an Ateneo-La Salle Finals with Ateneo sweeping their arch-rivals (forget about the revenue of the Game 3! You guys have to vindicate yourselves!) But realistically speaking, every team is likely to be a champion with the highest likelihood going to La Salle followed closely by Ateneo and FEU (they are tied).
Team Ateneo, REDEEM YOURSELVES! One Big Fight!
Yesterday, I watched Team USA’s Redeem Team beat their toughest rivals in this year’s Olympics – Spain – in a nitty-gritty battle that ended with the land of the brave and the free getting the top plum. It was a sight to see LeBron, Kobe and company redeem their country’s basketball after losing it in the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, they had to deal with a peaking Spanish squad as they had a great amount of scare when the Spaniards cut the lead to two in the fourth quarter of their duel. Fortunately for the Americans, the hottest shooter from Spain – Rudy Fernandez – accumulated his fifth foul causing him to seat. He watched his team implode when USA dealt the finishing blow on them. This game was a lost opportunity for the Spaniards because, I think, they were peaking at the right time as USA is starting to feel the effects of post-peaking as they have seen their leads sliced to lower deficits in their final two games. This just shows that a team with superb talent could withstand a team that is peaking at the right time.
Yes, but Team USA is just too special because they are the cream of the crop of NBA whereas other teams, including that of Spain, boasts of NBA bench players. It is 99% expected that USA will win it all. Team USA has been dominating their opponents by twenty to thirty points per game. The biggest problem of USA was peaking at the wrong time but as we have seen in their final battle, they just made a statement, “peaking my ass.”
“Peaking my ass.” That very statement is probably untrue when it comes to UAAP Men’s Basketball. Ever since I started watching UAAP Basketball, the teams that got the championship were teams that peaked at the right time. The past two seasons evidently exhibited that as the rallying UST Growling Tigers shocked the Ateneo community in 2006, and La Salle Green Archers showed the Philippines that the undefeated UE Red Warriors were, in fact, beatable by trouncing them 2-0 in the Finals. It just goes to show that it does not matter how you play in your first games. What matters more is how you end it.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles have been soaring as of late. They have beaten all of the teams they have faced in the second round of eliminations. FEU, Adamson, UST, UE, and UP have all fallen victims to the top team in UAAP. Ateneo is the clear leader of the tourney and a win against the lowly NU Bulldogs would state them as the 1st place team in the eliminations round. So far, so good. Team Ateneo has beaten every high profile team that stood its way ever since they got their lone loss from the FEU Tamaraws. This winning streak gives us the question, “Are we peaking?”
Peaking is seen whenever teams manage to pull off winning streaks despite strong contention. Ateneo did just that when it was able to beat top teams like FEU, UST and most notably, UE. Ateneo’s recent win over UE was incredibly special because everyone thought that Ateneo was about to lose it as they shot horribly 29% from the field and committed 21 turnovers. That is pretty uncharacteristic for the best team in the league but Ateneo somehow managed to beat all odds as they came from behind and beat the energetic Red Warriors. How? Defense. Baby, defense wins games. It has been said year in and year out. Ateneo’s defense just cannot be denied then.
Peaking teams click on all cylinders. Ateneo just exhibited that when they defeated FEU, UST and UE. They might have experienced an almost-endgame collapse against FEU but they were able to show the Filipinos that they can overcome their main weakness – three point shooting. This was also shown against UST as Ateneo rained from downtown as the Jervy Cruz-led Tigers gave up in the final minutes as the lead grew large. Lastly, UE’s 2-3 zone defense backfired when the Blue Eagles sniped from the three-point arc four times in the last five minutes of regulation to resurrect the team after being down by eight.
Peaking teams have no more upside. Duh! Peaking is hitting your ceiling. You have simply exhausted every potential that you have. In short, there is nothing to improve on. If you can be like Tiger Woods in Accenture’s advertisement because he always comes up with new revisions to improve his performance, then that’s good – sky’s the limit for you, my friend. I am not saying that it is not possible in basketball, however the tournament just consists of few games. If you peak at the wrong time, chances are, you will have a difficult time during the playoffs when teams start to expose your weaknesses. By the time you try to revise your game, you just found out that you were eliminated. That is why peaking is important in short tournaments like the UAAP.
And now, I pose the question once again, “Are we peaking?” It looks like we are. The Blue Eagles are clicking on all cylinders. They have managed to defeat the strong teams in succession. Their star players have been working their asses off that it scares me to think if they still have something to show when the bigger games arrive. But then, we must also remember that this year’s team is way lot talented than last year’s 2nd runner up team. Chris Tiu has become more mature and has been more aggressive. No more wait-for-the-pass Chris. He will take in charge as if his life depended on it. He does not even care if it would entail him as a ballhog. Anyway, he will never be a ballhog in the eyes of the Ateneans who have seen him pass the ball relentlessly in his early years. Rabeh Al-Hussaini is better than Ford Arao was in ALL categories (except on fastbreak). Nevertheless, he has turned into a scoring machine and a decent defensive presence. Nonoy Baclao is his same shotblocking self but I believe that he has brought better things intangibly this season as all opposing teams have been scared of his shotblocking prowess inside. Eric Salamat is the best on-ball defender and is UAAP’s best thief. His steals contribute not just on the team’s score but also to its momentum as well. Jai Reyes has been a reliable press breaker and Ryan Buenafe has been mature in terms of gameplay that he did not have the rookie aura. His freaking double-pump game-winning shot against UE just showed that this kid can bring a lot for years to come. Simply put, this team just oozes with talent. There is no doubt that Ateneo has the best starting five in the league.
Pundits might say that UST has the best starting five with Jervy Cruz, Dylan Ababou and Japs Cuan in the mold. However, I think Ateneo has the better one. UST might be better offensively but basketball is defense and offense at the same time. UST has the talent but Ateneo’s combination of a dominant big man, a strong interior defense, a slasher, and three point shooters make it more complete. Add Eric Salamat in the picture and you have the deadliest five in UAAP Basketball this season.
Nevertheless, we are uncertain if Ateneo has reached its peak level. It is highly likely but as long as the team has not lost a game to end their streak, its peaking has not yet ended. Are they in the wrong time of peaking? Possibly. But that is Coach Norman Black’s job. He must adjust the team and prepare for counter-attacks from other teams as they try to disrupt Ateneo’s fundamental way of playing. The team may not be as talented or relatively talented as the US Men’s Team but if the Blue Eagles have the sufficient talent, motivation and still have something left in their sleeves for the biggest stage of them all, the team can win it all. I think if there is one thing that should fuel the team in the Final Four and in the Finals (if they reach it) is, passion and some secret weapons. With the talent from the bench (hey we have the best of this year’s recruiting class and we still have Kirk Long!), I think Ateneo still has an upside. It is a matter of optimizing the team’s strengths.
To the Blue Eagles: Thanks for the comfortable eliminations round. You guys showed that you are for real. However, it is not yet enough. It is just starting. The last thing that the team has to be at this stage is to be complacent. You might have enjoyed the pleasure of beating every team in the eliminations but all of it disappears once you step into the bigger games. Just think of all the failures of the past and try to redeem yourselves similar to the Americans’ Redeem Team. It’s not just about beating La Salle; it is about getting the coveted crown. Team Ateneo’s Redeem Team, bring back the pride. It’s been six years. One Big Fight!
Off Topic:
If there are main obstacles to the Blue Eagles’ goal to win the crown that would have to be La Salle or FEU. Yes, I am not anymore writing off the FEU Tamaraws. They have proven that they are for real when they convincingly beat the Green Archers. I just hope that they are not of the same calibre as Arwind Santos’ Tamaraws when they spoiled Ateneo’s bid for back-to-back in 2003. This team might already be peaking and I hope they are because they really are scary. La Salle, on the other hand, is still La Salle. Whenever Ateneo duels La Salle, it is not just about being better talent-wise. It is about school pride and like people usually say, throw away the statistics and record books. It’s always 50-50. UE should be the easiest as compared to La Salle, FEU and UST but I still believe that they are scary as they have shown that they can match Ateneo in their two elimination round games. Furthermore, they are hungry (possibly hungrier) and are in the right position to peak. Thus, I am not discounting any team but I am wishing for an Ateneo-La Salle Finals with Ateneo sweeping their arch-rivals (forget about the revenue of the Game 3! You guys have to vindicate yourselves!) But realistically speaking, every team is likely to be a champion with the highest likelihood going to La Salle followed closely by Ateneo and FEU (they are tied).
Team Ateneo, REDEEM YOURSELVES! One Big Fight!
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