slaughter getting slaughtered literally inside the paint (photo source)
buenafe: "pa-kiss nga pare!" (photo source)
1. like sheep without a shepherd. no, this is not my gospel reflection for this sunday. during the second half, it was quite noticeable that the blue eagles did not have a leader inside the court - perhaps a part of the bigger hole left by the departure of emman monfort and kirk long. they lacked a figure on court that would remind them of two things that led them to victories and even four straight championships: patience and discipline. it seems to me that juami tiongson, as point guard, was the one tasked by coach norman to bring the team back to its focus. but i think that team captains nico salva and justin chua should lead by example when they are on court. salva, as a starter, has the responsibility to gather the team together in tough crunches like what happened in that crazy second half meltdown. chua, as the veteran off the bench, should anchor the second five with experience and leadership especially in maintaining the lead that was established earlier in the game. other "graduating" players like tonino gonzaga, oping sumalinog, and even greg slaughter share such responsibility with salva and chua.
teng: "BROWNOUT!? ILAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" (photo source)
2. the breaks of the game broke them apart. ateneo played lock down defense and smooth offense in the first half against ust, then the "unexpected" happened. down by as much as 19 points, the growling tigers rallied behind aljon mariano, whom coach norman black considered as a big threat heading towards this game, to lead a nineteen point turnaround and even grab a four point lead at the end of the third quarter (which came at the hands of an accidental "own goal" by frank golla). then in the fourth quarter, the blue eagles played catch-up while the breaks of the game were coming against them to break them apart. the shots that they made with ease in the first half started to rim out, the fouls kept piling up in the third quarter, and the penalty situation was something that they were not able to fully utilize down the stretch. more than the opposing team, the main opponent of the blue eagles are their very own selves. considering that ust has time and again threatened to steal a win from the jaws of defeat in the hands of ateneo, they have to combat complacency and overconfidence that a big lead is here to stay. this serves as a very early wake-up call for the blue eagles to make the breaks of the game matter for them and not to let these break them down.
the phenom will fly another day (photo source)
3. on to the next game. on a positive note, the blue eagles played flashes of brilliance in offense and defense yesterday. they out-rebounded ust (43-41), dished more dimes (16-10), swatted the ball more (9-2), and had better percentages in field goals (40% vs. 36.5%) and free throws (79.2% vs. 75%). the blue eagles even had a stretch of forcing shot clock violations against the growling tigers. the glaring stat however was ateneo's 18 turnovers (compared to ust's 14), and perhaps the game clinching play was somewhere along those 4 turnovers that the team committed more than their opponents or the missed free throws and hurried shots that could have counted but rimmed out. four ust players scored in double digits while ateneo relied much on salva (17 points) and kiefer ravena (19 points). nonetheless, these are numbers that can no longer be changed. at the sound of the final buzzer, the blue eagles should be preparing for their next game which is against the nu bulldogs. fans must have been spoiled with victories in the past seasons, but this is a loss that the team can build on for their drive for five. they are expected to bounce back and learn from this defeat. the target is still theirs to hit. they may lose now but never in games that matter.
WIN OR LOSE, IT'S THE SCHOOL WE CHOOSE!
ONE BIG FIGHT!
BLUE EAGLE, THE KING!
The scores:
UST 71: Mariano 21, Teng 16, Abdul 14, Fortuna 11, Ferrer 4, Bautista 3, Lo 2, Pe 0, Daquioag 0, Afuang 0
ADMU 70: Ravena 19, Salva 17, Slaughter 9, Tiongson 8, Buenafe 5, Sumalinog 4, Elorde 3, Chua 3, Golla 2, Gonzaga 0, Erram 0
Quarter scoring: 12-27, 28-43, 58-54, 71-70
photos from sir philip sison of fabilioh.com
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