After that terrible experience of watching the UAAP, I was in for an unexpected treat yesterday in a doubleheader featuring UST vs UE and FEU vs AdU.
The first game wasn't really anything to write home about. It featured the UE Red Warriors getting a much-needed victory to start off the second round of their season against the 3-point shooting UST Growling Tigers.
Kudos to Paul Lee and company for bouncing back after that disappointing first round which saw them drop to the bottom of the standings, staving off last place with a win against perennial cellar-dweller UP.
The game was close for the most part, but UE bust the game wide open during the 4th quarter and never looked back. AS usual, UST's utter dependence on three point shooting never fails to astound me.. Sure, the hadworking Chris Camus had his minutes cut short due to early foul trouble, but UST still has a bunch of effective (albeit undersized) forwards who are more than willing to pick up the slack. One such player is Melo Afuang, who really did everything he could for UST's cause. I hate the fact that UST lives and dies with the three point shot, when it has a vast arsenal of scoring options if only one looks hard enough. C'mon Coach Pido, I know you were a shooter in your day, but shooters alone do not win basketball games! :(
When compared to other teams, UST seems scared to operate close to the basket. The basic UST play revolves around giving a whole lotta screens for the guards in order to free them up for a trifecta, which more often then not, results in a miss and a fastbreak by the opposing team. :P Once you shut down the shooters, the Tigers seem lost. As expected, they lost to the resurgent and very well-balanced UE team that may have finally got it's bearings, and UST drops down to 3-5. I know the UST lineup is composed of a bunch of greenhorns as the seniors of the team are only 3rd year, but COME ON!! I've seen rookies on other teams play with more heart and guts than this UST roster!
The most frustrating thing of all of this is that I'm from UST and root for the Tigers. Changes have to be made, and fast..
The first game made me so angry that I broke out a bag of microwave popcorn and settled down to watch the second game. I had not intended to watch but needed to wash down the stupid UST performance.. and I'm glad I did, as I was treated to one of the best ballgames I've watched thus far this season! :D
With FEU and AdU at number 1 and 2 respectively, this seemed to be a wothwhile game. FEU had swept the first round and was looking to continue this all the way to the finish. I have to admit that I had my doubts about Adamson, what with their team's reputation and all, but this year's bunch seemed.. different.
I wasn't disappointed, as I was treated to high-octane, disciplined, methodical, and high-performance basketball all throughout. You could see the players' confidence in the way they moved and switched the ball around. There was good execution and the players were very patient in running their plays. The shooting was insane as well, with FEU putting up a staggering 81% field goal shooting at one point during the first half! Despite the high-percentage shooting, this was coupled by good defense coming from both teams.
FEU was up in double figures at the start of the 4th quarter, but AdU was able to claw their way back up and even took the lead during the last 3 minutes of the game. Of course it helped that FEU's shooting this quarter had turned really sour, but Adamson was not really that much better off. :P
Adamson eventually won the game by one point off an Alex Nuyles drive with 6 seconds remaining. With AdU trailing by one, the ball was inbounded from the sideline coming off a timeout. Nuyles got the ball and was momentarily open when Exceminiano gambled on a steal. The layup didn't go it but the putback by Eric Camson gave them the lead with 2.2 seconds to go. FEU had no timeouts left and was forced to inbound from the other end of the floor. A desperation heave from half court didn't go in and Adamson ran away with the victory.
Whew! What a game! :P
*a shoutout goes to my good buddy Jovi, who is the #1 prowler on my blog. :P Thanks for your continued patronage! Hehehe
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