Bask3tball

The DLSU Green Archers won the UAAP 70th Sr. Men’s Basketball Championship. DLSU was heavily favored to win because they were the hungrier team. They had sat out the previous season, owing to a suspension for fielding two ineligible players, and were just dying for some time to show what they were worth.

They swept the championship’s of some of the major invitational league’s heading on up to the 70th UAAP Season. Add to add to their experience they did a stint abroad in invitational matchups to hone their skills.

The same intensity they played with however in those leagues didn’t seem to carryover at the start of the UAAP season. They had a good run against generally weak teams but struggled heavily once they went up against the stronger teams of Ateneo De Manila University and the University of the East.

Cries were made that the Team was not as invincible as they had seemed and that off season tournaments have no measure to the pressure packed, leave it all hanging, games of the UAAP. Even with DLSU clinging solidly to the second spot of the standings, doubts were still raised as to their championship caliber.

With ADMU beating DLSU in the first and second round, then stealing 2nd place from them, you couldn’t help but think that it would be a UE vs ADMU finals.

DLSU was in second place but they lacked the fire in the gut to consistently win games at that time. They almost always lost steam in the last two minutes of each game, shamefully losing a double digit lead and in the process handing the W and the Character Building Victory to their opponents.

But as fate would have it, luck seemed to be on their side. ADMU lost to a sunsetting NU team on the last game of their season which placed them in second place with DLSU. DLSU, having lost all games against ADMU, miraculously won this rubber match by 1 point, leaving them in solo second place and with that the twice to beat advantage over the team in third place.

With the step ladder format in place, ADMU had to beat last year’s defending champs, the UST Growling Tigers, who was in 4th place. After beating UST convincingly they had booked a seat to meet DLSU once again.

With a finals game between DLSU and ADMU being an impossibility, the fans got their money’s worth with this 4th meeting of the year between the bitter rivals. DLSU only needed to win once against ADMU in order to book a seat in the finals against UE, but once again DLSU fell to their familiar pattern, of fourth quarter crumblers. They led in the fourth quarter then lost the lead in the last two minutes. Chris Tiu performed to form by executing a daredevil drive down the lane in the dying seconds to clinch the win for ADMU.

Game five of the season between ADMU and DLSU was pressure packed, those who had heart problems were warned to stay away, because this was the game of games. It was in this day of days that the championship experience of DLSU shined. Veterans of finals game past: TY Tang, Rico Maierhofer, Cholo Villanueva, JV Casio, OJ Cua and PJ Walsham rose to the occasion.

TY provided steady leadership for the team, JV the reliable offence, often maligned OJ provided the defense that fans rarely notice and praise. As did PJ, who bodied the blossoming Ford Arao. Not something that he was new to as in their Juniors days they often showed each others backs in the lower block.

But the true hero of that day was Cholo Villanueva. For a guard he provided the much needed rebounds that was very much lacking in DLSU’s defense. He also provided a back breaking 3 in the fourth that kept the Eagles at baby as well as a crucial jumper to finally stave off their rivals and clinch the win. This time the win was convincing as it wasn’t a single point win that they won by, but rather by a 5 point margin.

Sportscaster Mico Halilili prophesied that whoever won this series would win the finals. He was dead right in his prediction. Because the two rivals worked themselves up to such an intensity that it seemed like there were two finals matches going on in Season 70 of the UAAP.

DLSU finally lived up to form and knocked on the door of the Finals. Thanks in part to ADMU who forced them to raise their level of play.

The finals match between UE and DLSU was said to be a Mirror match between two teams. Franz Pumaren led the Archers while younger brother Dindo coached the Warriors. Both teams employed the Pumaren System which philosophised heavily on defense, pressure and intense physical fitness to win games.

Dindo seemed to have the upper hand with the 14-0 record tucked under his belt. He had a stable of veteran players and a second unit that was talented enough that it could start for other teams in the UAAP. The average player in Dindo’s team could be summarized as being tall, quick, athletic and with reliable outside shooting.

The sweet shooting and quick slashing Marcy Arellano no longer had to do it alone because he had the help of Borboran and Gregorio. Mark Borboran and Kelvin Gregorio were Prototypical Guard/Forwards who could shoot the ball like hell from long distance whenever small guys were placed infront of them as well as slash like crazy whenever lumbering forwards were tasked to guard them. Did I mention that they also functioned like normal power forwards who could post up and swat the ball like consistently on defense? In the shaded lane Center Llagas was an imposing force but was surprisingly quick enough to always be the one to receive the outlet pass during a fast break and score the two.

UE’s second unit consisted of the same mold of players. Slam Dunk Champion, Elmer Espiritu, came off the bench for them and was also considered as a prototypical Guard/Forward. Add to that the equally talented crew of Paul Lee, Hans Thiele, Canizares, Lingganay and Fampulme.

DLSU came in the series with the confidence of beating ADMU in the knockout match and the fact that they almost beat UE in their second round match had JV Casio not flubbed his freethrows in the dying seconds which eventually forced the game to overtime and UE running away with the win.

Knowing that UE was beatable they played with such tenacity and grit that they squeaked past UE to win game one. It was neck and neck till the fourth quarter till Rico Maierhofer fouled on a putback and got tested on the line. Maierhofer missed his first free throw but sank his second to give the Archers a 1 pt lead which clinched the win. Often reliable Mark Borboran missed a game winning three and with that spelled the doom of UE’s miracle season.

With that first game win the tide had turned in favor of the Archers. Game 2 had the lead ballooning to double digits for DLSU. Suddenly DLSU knew how to rebound against the much taller UE and shot more accurately. It was the guards of DLSU that shined in this game with their steady offense but it was also because the Big Men of DLSU finally learned how to deal with the much taller forwards of UE, even without the suspended Brian Ilad in the Line-up and Sickbay interned Marko Batricevic.

The future pillars of DLSU Basketball also showed us their worth in the finals match. Kish Co, who showed flashes of both brilliance and ineptness in the regular season, put all his critics to shame with the intensity and tenacity that he showed in the finals. Man-Child Rookie, Ferdinand, showed us that the Future of DLSU basketball in the shaded lane and the rebounding department was already accounted for. While sweet shooting Bader Malabes proved to us that even if his offense is off, he can still contribute well in the defensive department. Simon Atkins too showed us the potential of his game, which was aside from quarterbacking skills, was a sweet jumper from mid and long range.

When the final buzzer sounded, La Sallians say that that wasn’t just the sound of Victory for DLSU and the Green Archers that they heard, but also the sweet sound of Vindication.