Bask3tball

Exciting first game between the Blue Eagles and the Green Archers. Well worth the money paid to scalpers. Ateneo convincingly won 73-79.

Observations:

1. Chris Tiu… You are still the Man… After four years in the league, I just love the way everybody still bites into your up and under fakes.
2. Ateneo is still the team to go to if you are playing as a PF or Center. Shown by the array of big man moves that Jobe and Rabeh developed under the tutelage of Ateneo’s coaching staff. And who can not forget Ford Arao and Doug Kramer’s development under Coach Black? What’s most important too is that all Ateneo’s big men can shoot their free throws at a respectable clip.
3. Don’t you just miss the Ren Ren Ritualo era of DLSU? where everybody in the team could shoot their free throws? If it’s one thing that cost the game for DLSU, it was their horrendous free throw shooting.
4. I just love the start of the season when the Rookie subterfuge is removed. Wherein each guy guarding a rookie near the arc is continuously asking himself “Is he a 3 pt threat?” LA Revilla proved that he was by burying a wide open three when the defense sagged on him. Last year UST’s Mirza dropped a lot of long bombs because nobody took him seriously at the arc during the start of the season.
5. Speaking of LA Revilla, this guy out ran the entire defense during a fast break. During Virgil Villavicencio’s time as coach, DLSU was known as a fast breaking team because of the back court of Espinosa, Lago and Webb. Boy could those guys run and they were also good at intercepting the passing lanes.
6. There is also the technical buffet that the UAAP is serving up right now. Last saturday Paul Lee got two technicals for trash talking. Yesterday Franz Pumaren was served a technical for not wearing his id (ridiculous). Then Norman Black and the bench got called “T’s” for excessive complaining. How do you define excessive? what if the guy naturally has a loud voice? maybe they should set a time limit as to when it starts being excessive? It’s still the start of the season so there is plenty of that to go around.

ADMU vs DLSU Live Game Transcript here