Ateneo 71, Adamson 59
-So far in this season, this is the only time wherein, save for the opening canto, everything went well for the new(ly shaven heads of the) Blue Eagles. Despite barely having Kiefer Ravena (who only went in for less than 15 minutes and scored only 4 points), the offense clicked and went smoothly as planned, with everyone finding their spots from the outside and yet managing to bring the ball inside for impressive baskets. The defense has significantly improved, as the Ateneo frontline held up their fort and was able to deny the baskets that mattered for Adamson. If at all, this seems to be a sign for the team being able to indeed play as a team, which resulted in their first and only win after four games.
-Four Blue Eagles scored in double figures, all with notable and significant performances. Juami Tiongson finally completed the Blue Eagles trifecta by scoring from beyond the arc and producing easy fastbreak points. JP Erram showed everybody that his ACL is a thing of the past, as his 10-point barrage in the third quarter kept the Blue Eagles afloat. Chris Newsome has been, well, awesome, in creating scoring opportunities for everyone. And of course, the King Eagle himself Ryan Buenafe has shown that he is an all-around player with a near triple double (11 markers, 12 boards, 9 dishes), which perhaps made things lighter (pun intended) for him when everyone just got it going. Such instance tells a very obvious fact that has been there since the Fil-Oil Preseason Tournament, namely that when the Blue Eagle go berserk on offense, coupled with impressive defensive stretches that even the tallest import could not get his hands on, expect scoring runs to happen more often, and with the way the team finishes this game with a 12-point lead testifies to that. And if this is going to happen for the last ten games of eliminations, expect the Blue Eagles to be back in contention for their sixth straight championship (although this would be too early to conclude).
-Gang rebound, gang rebound, gang rebound. This has been reiterated in the previous three games, and it should have worked against DLSU except that the bigs were in foul trouble and that the team's overall energy dissipated, and this is the only way for the Blue Eagles to go, because of the fact that they have no bigs to counter those of the other UAAP teams. It is interesting to see that the three biggest players on the court gang up on the paint, while the other two wait ten to fifteen feet outside the basket for shots that might go too strong, and it has worked wonders for this game. Buenafe, Newsom, Erram, and Golla got their respective turns to scoop up the ball, while the guards were simply on the watch if ever the ball finds its way outside the paint. And the result? A huge rebounding advantage over the league's best rebounding team, and an 11-0 advantage on fastbreak points.
-Coach Bo Perasol observed that the reason for leads to get dissipated is because the team lacked energy during the latter stages of the game, when it seems that everyone's gas have run out. And responding to that, he made a quick fix: he expanded the rotation. In this game, he fielded 12 players that came in and out every three to four minutes or so, to give them quick breaks and allow time to recover before going in and playing Ateneo's own brand of a running game. With Tiongson and Nico Elorde starting, reserve Ice Lim got a few minutes, and even managed to get a jumper in, while Kiefer Ravena, not yet in perfect form, forced the Adamson defense to collapse on him if ever he gets into a good position to score. Vince Tolentino and Ivan Enriquez also had their fair share of minutes in which they contributed. This let Newsome, Buenafe, and Tiongson to rest and save their energy for the most important moments of the game.
-The horrible dreams that the Blue Eagles had in their last three third quarter nightmares were quickly dissipated when, holding a 4-point lead, they entered the second half. Just when the Falcons are threatening to grab that lead triple after triple, the Blue Eagles had responses of their own. By the end of the third canto, keeping up was just too much for the Falcons, as Erram unloaded tons of inside stabs (a couple off a Von Pessumal assist) to further stretch the lead, not to mention the individual contributions of Newsome and Buenafe in this run. Watch out, for the third quarter might just be once again a turning point for the rest of the games.
-Roider Cabrera and Rodney Brondial's game made them easy favorites and go-to guys for the Falcons. The former indeed has all it takes to be the team, and perhaps the league's, top snipers, being able to hit big threes ever since his first game in the league. The latter, meanwhile, does not only provide the Falcons with points in the paint, but more than that, knows how to slide in and out of the point and score quick stabs. However, like the rest of the Falcons (including their "rising star" Axel Inigo) needs to play more as a team and cease relying on individual efforts and too much isolation plays. If the Falcons are going to be a championship contender, then they have to realize that the offense lies beyond Brondial, Cabrera, and Jericho Cruz.
The Scores:
Ateneo 71 - Tiongson 15, Erram 12, Buenafe 11, Newsome 10, Golla 6, Ravena 4, Capacio 4, Pessumal 3, Tolentino 2, Lim 2, Elorde 2, Enriquez 1
Adamson U, 59 - Cruz 21, Cabrera 14, Brondial 8, Sewa 4, Inigo 3, Agustin 3, Rios 2, Monteclaro 2, Abrigo 2, Trollano 0, Petilos 0, Julkipli 0
Quarter scores: 13-16, 32-28, 57-47, 71-59
Credits to the UAAP Season 76 Facebook page for the pic and GMA Online News for the box.
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