FEU 49, Ateneo 72
Trash the eliminations and put away your predictions. They didn't mean anything when these top two teams in the UAAP faced each other last Saturday.
(Not too) surprisingly, the results were very different from what happened before.
Ateneo's 26-8 first quarter run has already said everything that there is during the first game of the Finals. Led by various breaks from runners Eric Salamat and Kirk Long, the Eagles cruised through Game 1, crushing the FEU Tamaraws' competitive spirit and proving that even though things have changed, they can still defend the crown.
And the key was fantastic defense like you've never seen before. In almost all instances, there's always an Eagle in the front of an FEU cager holding the ball. Even in off-ball situations, most of them are ready to defend and check their man. FEU's top scorers, RR Garcia and Terence Romeo, never got a chance to shoot well both from inside and outside. Add to that the fact that the whole team wasn't really shooting very well, most especially those people whom they can truly rely on in terms of scoring, namely JR Cawaling and Paul Sanga.
Furthermore, it was a one-sided battle for the boards. The Ateneo frontcourt did a good job of boxing out and even securing second chance opportunities when each and every shot missed. Even the backcourt were there to grab the ball, run, and get easy baskets, resulting in 15 big fastbreak points, which made up the huge chunk of the lead.
Maybe a lot would ask: What went wrong with FEU? Jittery. Nothing coming in. Key players played like third stringers in a crucial game, Tonino Gonzaga can even beat them in terms of +/- ratings. Bottom line is, they just don't have that spunk and confidence in a Finals game. Worse, they battled for the championship and messed with the wrong guys, those who have already made key performances in the previous two Finals.
So what to do with a nervous team? Throw them on the ground. Exploit their defense. Go for the kill like there's no tomorrow. Be more than what others expected. And this was what the Eagles did.
This is the Ateneo way.
But this is just the first of a possible three-game series. Game 2 will be a different thing altogether. Both the Eagles and Tamaraws are hungry, and it's just that the former were hungrier during the first game. Let's see how this drama will play out in its next episode.
One Big Fight.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
-Although you can't give individual credit to the Blue Eagles because they really played as a team, there are some things that have to be lauded: Justin Chua's willingness to crash the boards and run on backdoor plays, Salamat and Long's tireless running on both sides of the court, Frank Golla's effort to stand on his own ground and not let anyone pass, and Emman Monfort's struggle to keep up with all the hacks and elbows on him. Good job, guys.
-Perhaps the most significant defensive stops that the Eagles have made during this game were on Reil Cervantes and Paul Sanga. While Cervantes' points were all from the charity stripe, Sanga's midrange shooting turned off (but out of stupidity, there were moments wherein Garcia and Romeo were still feeding him the ball in spite of this cold night)
-Aldrech Ramos and JR Cawaling were out of sight, out of mind during this first game.
-Speed also became the key. The Blue Eagles tired out the Tamaraws by running from all sides of the court and holding them off. I hope that FEU still plays Ateneo's fast game during Game 2.
-Everyone's favorite #8 with 8 points. The heart of a champion. 'Nuff said. No seriously, Bacon Austria came out to play and proved that he is part of this team.
ADMU 72 – Long 14, Chua 13, Salva 10, Monfort 9, Austria 8, Salamat 8, Erram 4, Gonzaga 2, Golla 2, Buenafe 2, Tiongson 0, dela Cruz 0.
FEU 49 – Garcia 11, Romeo 10, Cervantes 7, Noundou 6, Ramos 6, Cawaling 3, Exciminiano 2, Cruz 2, Bringas 2, Guerrero 0, Mendoza 0, Knuttel 0, Sanga 0.
Postscript: Yes, it's true Tonino Gonzaga got a whopping +18 compared to Carl Cruz's +2, the highest in terms of +/- for FEU.
Quarter scoring: 26-8, 42-21, 60-38, 72-49.
No comments:
Post a Comment