-There are a handful of important personnel who were out for this match, and the game could have changed had they suited up. The Archers did not have their playmaker Almond Vosotros and spot-up shooter Sam Marata. On the other hand, the Tigers were more than shorthanded as they were unable to avail the services of Ed Daquioag, Chris Camus, and Jeric Teng.
-DLSU was lucky enough to have Nico Elorde, rookie Roldan Sara, and Luigi dela Paz to fill in the holes left by the absentees, but UST seemed to have greater problems. Coach Pido Jarencio was forced to leave their rookie African Karrim Abdul on the court, who was slapped with four fouls before the end of the first half (later on in the fourth, he will be called for his last foul a minute after re-entering the game). Later on, he decided to bring in Paolo Pe and have him play heavy minutes than his usual UAAP MPG's. In fact, Coach Pido looked confused when guys were fouled out, as he was probing his bench looking for people to sub in and replace the ejected players.
-Luckily, UST had the services of their unlikely trio: Jeric Fortuna, Clark Bautista, and Melo Afuang, to seal the win. Add to that the rookie explosion that is Kevin Ferrer. Put together, the four of them scored 69 of the team's 79 points, thanks to hot streaks from the arc. Bautista and Fortuna had a combined 8 for 22 three-pointers, while Ferrer made 2 of his own, including a dagger that drove straight to the heart of DLSU fans which put the Archers away for good in the dying minutes.
-Despite having a painful wrist and forearm, Afuang managed to score 19 points. There was one funny moment when, he was holding on to his painful arm, looking at the bench only to see Coach Pido shouting at him "wala yan!"
-Coming in second to the Phenom's performance during that day was Kevin Ferrer, who played a little less like Kevin Durant's one and only year at Kansas U. With the way he moves the ball, it is obvious that K-Fer has sound basketball IQ, knowing when to shoot, make the pass, or dribble his way out of double teams. Thanks also to his physique, having really long limbs that reminds us as well of the Durantula in his Kansas days. He was able to fill in the absence of the three and scored 14 points that went with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. And as we all know, he could only get better as the games progress. It will definitely be an exciting moment to see Kiefer and K-Fer playing against each other in the Fil-Oil or even in the UAAP.
-Abdul needs more training on ball-handling and defense. He is a promising guy, and he would be the ONLY legit center to play for the Tigers this year. If he still does not have the discipline on defense, then UST has to pack their bags early in the Season 74 (and I mean as early as Abdul's four fouls in the first half.)
-Recently, a lot of Xavier hopefuls have been making it in UST. First, they had Jeric Teng, and then Paolo Pe comes after (he played for Xavier during grade school before transferring to Ateneo High School). For this season, they elevated Robin Tan, a 5'7" guard who once played for the Stallions alongside Teng. Surprisingly, there is this another explosive Stallion who is about to enter in his fourth and final year of high school. Can he be the next one to suit up for the black and yellow? Just a thought.
-Another interesting question: Magpapakalbo pa ba ang UST?
-DLSU, on the other hand, has been out-of-sync the rest of the game, save the part where Jovet Mendoza takes over and bring the game closer than it should have been. Sure , they have a lot of talent, but the problem is that they cannot blend and combine them altogether. Obviously, coach Dindo Pumaren tried out various combinations when he put in 15 of his men on the court, and none of the combinations were really good ones.
-Another question pops in when watching this Archers game. If you look at their frontcourt, there are people who can really bully their way in or play the high post and score. They have Maui Villanueva, Jovet Mendoza, Norbert Torres, Arnold Van Opstal, and Ponso Gotladera to man the insides, and to be serious about it, they can dominate. But then, why did Simon Atkins and the big choker Luigi dela Paz (oh god, don't mind the horrible adolescent moustache) take those useless jumpers that didn't seem to come in. Together, they shot 5 of 12 within the 2-point area and 2 out of 14 three-pointers (10 coming from Atkins). Just horrible… and Gotladera and Van Opstal didn't get their own touches.
-DLSU's rookies can offer more than they were expected to, and all can agree on that. Norbert Torres is a potential threat to opponents, because he can score inside the paint but at the same time develop a shooting streak from the outside. And despite his size, he has relatively has some speed to slide in and out. On the other hand thumbs down to Arnold Van Opstal, who seemed to have his mind out of the game together with Sara, but with proper training and discipline, they can be threats as well. Unfortunately, as mentioned, Ponso Gotladera needs to be given the ball more often, as he was a scoring threat as well during his days as a Red Cub. Be on the look for these rookies as the pre-season games progress… that is if Coach Dindo will give them more minutes.
Scores:
UST 79 – Fortuna 20, Afuang 19, Bautista 16, Ferrer 14, Abdul 6, Pe 2, Tan 2, Lo 0, de Guzman 0, Marata 0, Whitfield 0.
DLSU 70 – Mendoza 15, Torres 11, Atkins 11, de la Paz 10, Tampus 5, Andrada 4, Sara 4, Van Opstal 3, Elorde 2, Villanueva 2, Gotladera 2, Webb 1, Paredes 0, Pate 0, Vigil 0.
Quarter scoring: 22-17, 47-33, 57-54, 79-70
Thanks to inboundpass.com for the box and the Fil-Oil FB website for the photo.
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