the future of philippine basketball in different school colors (photo source)
three points on the blue eagles' trimuph against the green archers in their second round encounter in uaap season 75.
in front of more than 17,000 spectators inside the jam-packed araneta coliseum, the cagers from katipunan won against their taft avenue counterparts in a game considered as the biggest and most prominent rivalry in philippine sports to give them their eight straight win, a 9-1 record to maintain their lead in the standings, and a step closer to clinching a final four berth for this season.
the big man with a ridiculous hang time (photo source)
1. the "other" high school phenom. in the past few seasons, ateneo-la salle games have become a showcase of highly-touted recruits who hope to leave a mark to the team and showcase some of their talents in front of a mammoth crowd. the green archers' prized rookie jeron teng continued to amaze basketball fans with a solid performance (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) against the blue eagles. kiefer ravena, last year's top recruit for ateneo, pitched in 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists for the winning team. these two players are considered the future of philippine basketball and their match-up this year has shown that there's more to expect from them in the coming uaap seasons and even in professional and international competitions. yet, not to be overshadowed by these two young guns of today is ryan buenafe, who was the most sought-after high school player way back in 2008.
after a year away from the varsity team, buenafe proved that he belongs to the roster and deserves a spot in the rotation. in his second start of the season (his first was against feu where he got thrown out because of a foul early in the first quarter), he contributed 24 points, 8 rebounds, and a clean turnover slate to keep ateneo's dominance over la salle. he had the confidence to shoot threes (he made 3-9 from downtown), hustled relentlessly for the loose ball, and displayed that ridiculous hang time to draw fouls and eventually make the basket. since the la salle defense focused more on greg slaughter, nico salva, and ravena, buenafe had the open lane to slice in the paint and a clear view to make long range shots. his resurgence in previous games gives the blue eagles another option to score and opposing teams another poison to pick. we have not forgotten about his heroics in the finals of season 73, and this memorable game of his gives us more reasons to remember the "other" high school phenom on the blue side of the court.
bombs away! (photo source)
2. different animal. as mentioned in my recap of their last game against feu, the blue eagles' resident outside shooters have yet to find their range this season. in that game, the basket was a bit more friendly for the team as they drained a total of seven three pointers that somehow gave another dimension to the ateneo offense. in this game against la salle, their guns were once more on target as they made seven shots from beyond the arc (7-17 for 41.2%): three for buenafe and one each for ravena, salva, juami tiongson, and oping sumalinog. if a team has a seven foot behemoth like greg slaughter in the middle and a couple of driving dynamos in salva and ravena along the lanes, it becomes a rule of thumb for opposing teams to congest the middle and in effect neglect the outside shots. but the past two games show that the blue eagles are now a different animal in terms of offense: it can hover close to the basket for the easy bucket or fly the ball from the rainbow country for the three point shot. this added dimension to the blue eagles' offensive arsenal should make opposing teams think twice of what to focus on defense and who to guard in the next possession. ateneo's three point shooting can still improve but game like these would hopefully keep their outside shooters ready for the kick out and the long distance shot.
the man in the middle knows his role (photo source)
3. same beast. nonetheless, it was still ateneo's defense that gave them the win against a tough la salle team. they limited la salle to 34% shooting, a percentage that could have gone lower if jarelan tampus did not make all his shots on the court. much credit goes to slaughter in this game for safeguarding the ateneo basket. he struggled on offense (just 4 points on 1-5 shooting) but heavily contributed in rebounding (11), blocks (4), and limiting the production of la salle's big men (norbert torres and arnold van opstal collectively shot 6-15 in the field with torres just making 4 points in the game). despite teng's 22 point output, he was 6-21 in the field throughout the game as buenafe, teng, sumalinog, and gonzaga took turns in guarding him. almond vosotros, whose 4 three pointers for la salle brought some scare to ateneo fans, eventually had to take contested shots from his range as the defense picked up for the blue eagles. true enough, the blue eagles are still the same animal on defense, and if they want to win their fifth consecutive championship, they have to keep up and even intensify their defense as the road to the final four progresses.
nasa fabilioh ka na naman ha! (photo source)
The Scores:
ADMU 77 – Buenafe 24, Ravena 18, Salva 12, Tiongson 10, Chua 4, Slaughter 4, Sumalinog 3, Gonzaga 2, Elorde 0, Golla 0.
DLSU 67 – Teng 22, Vosotros 20, Van Opstal 8, Tampus 8, Torres N. 4, Manguera 3, Mendoza 2, Andrada 0, Paredes 0, Torres T. 0, Tallo 0, Webb 0.
Quarterscores: 26-10; 35-29; 57-46; 77-67
photos from sirs philip sison, yohan janeo, and erwin cabbab of fabilioh.com
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