Sweeps have the same situations. Remember the first round battle against the Green Archers? The Blue Eagles had a big lead in the middle of the third quarter, when the Green Archers had a big run before its end, only to have the Blue Eagles scampering for a decent basket in the fourth quarter. This time, while the Blue Eagles nursed a 1-point lead in the middle of the fourth quarter, Almond Vosotros hit an elbow three and then went for a fastbreak layup after an Arnold Van Opstal swat. This happened in the last three minutes, and since then, the Blue Eagles struggled to tie the game and once more bring the lead back to the blue side. It was a lucky moment as the Blue Eagles went on a late 6-1 run to tie the game at 64 apiece, but then it was Jeron Teng and thus the Green Archers who had the last laugh as he hit the go-ahead jumper over Chris Newsome with just a few seconds remaining.
Jeron Teng and Kiefer Ravena. To raise my point, I'm going to go Bill Simmons on this one. Look at these endgame stats from two players:
Player A: 34 minutes, 12 pts (4/13 FG, 1/6 3FG, 3/8 FT), 2 rebs, 1 asst, 1 stl, 5 TOs, 2PF
Player B: 21 minutes, 8 pts (2/5 FG, 0/1 3FG, 4/9 FT), 1 reb, 1 blk, 2 TOs, 4PF
Obviously, Player A has been on the court for about 80% of the whole game (in fact that is more or less his average usage rate), while Player B has been hounded by foul trouble. However, both of these players have practically the same statistics, and I could go so far as to conclude that player B is some kind of energy backup just in case shots weren't falling for those whom he should substitute with. While Player A? That was a really really bad game.
Unfortunately, Player A's statline was Kiefer Ravena's. Fans in blue expected him to make the difference this time, being absent from the Blue Eagles' first round match against the Green Archers. However, nothing went really well from him, especially in the fourth quarter. Sure, he hit a shot clock beating triple (more out of luck than skill, I suppose), but he did commit a multitude of mistakes that he could have easily avoided. For one, there is his dismal free throw, that's even worse than his average (37.5% compared to his 52% average). He airballed some threes, most of them shot clock beaters (why were we even forced there in the first place?), and made 2 turnovers that were big for DLSU: the first one happened at the end of the first quarter, when he cost the Blue Eagles a turnover, leading to a Vosotros triple (lemme call that by its name, Vosotres) that trimmed the lead down to two, while the second one led to another Vosotres that gave the Green Archers the lead for good early in the fourth quarter. Simply put, the Phenom is not himself in this game, save for that game tying jumper that went before that Teng clutch basket.
And speaking of Jeron Teng, he came out glorious by the end of the buzzer as he sinks his usual jumper over Chris Newsome, keeping his team practically safe at the number three spot. Prior to that, he splits his FTs that made it a one-possession game, and in that short stretch the game was all his. This is not to say that Teng is now as good as Ravena (at least at this point in their college careers); however, it would seem more that Ravena went down to Teng's level (case in point: Ravena's true shooting for this game was at just 36.3%, while Teng has 44.6%). Fans in green have jeered at Teng all season long because of his bad decisions on the court especially during isolation plays as well as his awful free throw shooting, while Ravena was hailed by the fans in blue for his impact on the court. But guess what, things have come down to the same level, or even turned around at least just this once. While Ravena has been slumping in this game, Teng came out as the eventual hero who saved DLSU and granted them the sweep.
Nico Elorde's wasted effort. Nico Elorde brought out his best game today against his former school, and boy, did he really turn out to be efficient in this game. The former Green Archer tallied 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting, with 3 out of 5 triples to boot, together with 4 boards, 3 dimes, and 1 steal. Elorde came up big in the first half as he makes one triple after another, not to mention his gutsy layups, stills, and offensive rebounds spread all over. Sadly, it wasn't enough as the Blue Eagles lost, but it could easily have been Elorde who was there during the rest of the fourth quarter to replace the slumping Ravena.
The things that the Blue Eagles missed. So what did the Blue Eagles forget in this game? Here are a few points:
- They forgot the fact that what will decide this game are eventually the big men... and their performance on both ends of the floor. Frank Golla, JP Erram, Vince Tolentino, and Ivan Enriquez gave up 23 points to the DLSU big men Arnold van Opstal (4), Norbert Torres (6), and most especially Jason Perkins (13), while only scoring 4 points (a basket apiece from Golla and Erram). One could readily forgive those backcourt points scored considering that the offense have been coming from the small forwards forced to play big (Buenafe and Newsome had 8 and 9, respectively); however, too much offensive pressure from the DLSU bigs (together with the non-calls, which will come later) allowed LA Revilla and Teng to slash their way inside (Revilla was 4 of 7 inside and ended up with 11 points).
- They forgot that they cannot just run fastbreak sets, and half court plays are of utmost necessity against DLSU. Notice that when the Blue Eagles go for a rebound, the Green Archers would rather give it up and run to set their defense. If that is the case, then they should have more half court sets that have Ravena, Buenafe, and Nesome scoring on the inside, while Tiongson or Elorde would be responsible in receiving kickouts. Instead, we got pretty bad perimeter shots from Ravena and Buenafe, more like failed desperation attempts to score. I'm not saying that this has always been the case, because we have seen flashes of brilliance on the offense, lots of it even; however, they could have run different sets with same finishes (obviously, because the Blue Eagles are running Hawks and Horns sets that have the same initial moves) in those last five minutes.
- They forgot that despite not having Ravena, they could have just used Chris Newsome as the primary shot creator. The second round Newsome was far from the 27-point bomb that struck fear in the hearts of Lasallians during the first round. Instead, what we got is still a decent 8-point, 8-rebound forward who settled well with setting up plays for the guards. Had Newsome been activated as the first option in the last few minutes, then I think this game could have been saved.
That Bo Perasol Technical. Let's review the sequence that led to that foul called on Coach Bo Perasol:
- Ryan Buenafe drove to the basket and was pushed and elbow on his way. No foul called.
- Jason Perkins scrambles for the rebound and was supposedly fouled as he got the board.
- As the referee whistled, Perkins elbowed someone from behind him.
What It Means to the Final Four campaign. This definitely makes everything more difficult, now that the Blue Eagles slide to 6-5, tied with UST and half a game behind UE (who will play DLSU on the 4 September without Charles Mammie and Ralf Olivares). Given that, these are the things that the Blue Eagles should do:
- First off, they have to eliminate those with whom they are tied up against, namely UST and (possibly) UE (but with a margin greater than or equal to four points). Doing so would secure them the four-spot despite having the same standings at the end of eliminations.
- It would even be helpful if DLSU sweeps the second round, because it would give extra losses to UE, UST, and possibly NU.
- One more imperative: BEAT NU. The Blue Eagles cannot afford another loss (unless UST and UE will be handed other losses). Once this is done, the fourth spot is for the Blue Eagles, and they might face either NU or DLSU.
La Salle 66 - Vosotros 19, Perkins 13, Revilla 11, Teng 8, Torres 6, Van Opstal 4, Montalbo 3, Salem 2, Tapus 0, Reyes 0, Dela Paz 0, Bolick 0
Ateneo 64 - Tiongson 14, Elorde 13, Ravena 12, Buenafe 9, Newsome , Pessumal 4, Golla 2, Erram 2, Tolentino 0, Enriquez 0, Capacio 0
Quarter scoring: 13-16, 31-33, 46-49, 66-64
Credits to the Fabilioh Facebook page for the photo and GMA Online for the box
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