Which is bigger? PBA, UAAP or NCAA?

Happy PBA Opening Day!
Have you ever wondered which among the PBA, UAAP and NCAA garner the biggest amount of interest? This Google Trends (of course!) chart should finally resolve any discussion.


Heck let's resolve all of our differences with a truckload of stats, after the jump.

If NBA teams are Pinoy college hoops teams: the 2013-14 NBA season preview, Part 1

Basketball never stops. College basketball season is about to end -- yes NCAA is still ongong -- but in most years, the end of October means the college hoops tourneys are over, and we're salivating at a brand new NBA season. Old players on new teams! New players on new teams! Comebacking players! More hating on LeBron! More "Chris Bosh is gay" jokes! More "I'd still take the Lakers over the Clippers" shit! More "I'm drafting Kobe in the first round in fantasy NBA!"

And what better way to merge both basketball worlds is with a preview: let's see which NBA teams would wind up as the Pinoy college teams. There are 8 UAAP teams, 10 NCAA teams and 30 NBA teams. So for every college team, there's either one or two NBA teams. Let's begin! The order is via the winning percentage in the elimination round.

Top 10 college courtside reporters of the 21st century

What gets me through college basketball on TV when Boom Gonzalez is blabbering about how Bobby Ray Parks is the savior of Philippine basketball, TJ Manotoc blabbering about Kiefer Ravena is the savior, period, and Aaron Atayde blabbering about blabbering?

Coutside reporters, of course! Some people may deem them to be unimportant, or even unneeded, but seriously, once you get tired of listening to the commentators talking sadly after every Ateneo loss, and being ecstatic after every time Ravena bounces the ball, the courtside reporters are your respite.

UAAP Season 76 and NCAA Season 89 team standings, magic and tragic numbers!

It's back! Track your favorite teams performance with magic and tragic numbers! For an explanation, see this.

March Madness! Haterade version!

As tribute to Grantland's "The Most Hated College Basketball Players of the Last 30 Years" tournament (written by the Rafeboogs himself), this blog ripped off their brilliant idea, because, I'm not into plagiarizing -- I cited them. Only that I made it better: instead of making this tournament solely about college hoopsters, why not include the bigwigs? You know, the shady people behind the scenes that make college basketball a little bit exciting.



Just like Grantland's version, there are four brackets: the bigwigs, players of the 2010s (2010-present), players of the 2000s (2000-2009), and the Pinoy version of Duke, the team everyone hates, a DLSU-centric bracket. But don't worry people who seethe the Gremlins, some DLSU bigwigs are at the bigwigs bracket, so an all-DLSU final is possible.

Seedings are determined by total overall hate throughout the interwebz, measured through my own biases. This is not to be a scientific survey of hate, and seeds may have been adjusted for meaty matchups, both in the first round or, potentially, in the latter rounds. I present, the bracket:


And now, the first round!

DLSU bracket:

2010s players bracket:

Polls end after a week, then the other half of the bracket gets their spotlight.

NCAA Season 87 playoffs: All the stats you'd need to know

Wait, it's still college basketball season? This late? And we're only starting the playoffs? Isn't it sembreak already, since in baseball they're in the League Champi0nship Series already?

That means students had took their Finals already. Wait, these athletes are students? They study?! Are they studying to become priests?

Anyhoo, these are the stats that you need to know as the college basketball season concludes. Ah yes, we forgot about the PCCL. Wait, what's the PCCL? Wait, shouldn't the NCAA end first than the UAAP?
Idea ripped off from Grantland. Well not necessarily since I credited them. Ah, what the heck.

BTW, ABS-CBN Sports, whatever happened to Drei Felix, everyone's favorite sportscaster not named Diane Castillejo? Now the chicks have to watch Chris Soler wishing they have hair as great as his. Don't get me started on Anton Roxas.

Sweep dreams are made of these

The perfect season is one of the rarest feats in sports. The longer the season, the more improbable it happens. In the local college sports scene, factors unique to the setting had made the sweep sweeter with its added perks.

The local college hoops scene has seen quite a number of elimination round sweeps and near-sweeps. Since the start of the Final Four format in 1993, there had been two sweeps and two near-sweeps. UE and UST swept the competition in 2007 and 1993, respectively; Ateneo and La Salle missed the sweep on the last games of the 2011 and 2002 seasons, respectively. In the NCAA, San Beda swept the eliminations on their to the title last year, while their finals opponents SSC-R was the last to do the feat prior to San Beda, in 1997 (although that was prior to the NCAA using the Final Four format).

Interestingly, the sweeps and near-sweeps had always involved the same teams, and not always the teams that contend year in and year out. And the near-sweeps were always convincing defeats for the would-be sweeper, while the sweeps would always be close games.

In 1993, Adamson led by Marlou Aquino had the privilege of derailing the Growling Tigers 14-0 sweep. They failed that time, but they managed to stay close, losing to only seven points, the second smallest advantage by the Dennis Espino-led Tigers team in that year. That game was personal for most of the Falcons as they previously tried out for the Espana team before being cut. In those days, sweeping the eliminations meant an automatic championship; this cut short the tournament so the league changed the rules, making the sweeping team qualify for the best-of-3 Finals outright.

We now all know that Aquino did not sorta attend his classes, so the league suspended the Falcons next year; this ushered in the DLSU-UST rivalry that lasted until the millennium ended. Interestingly, while UST ushered in their four-peat with a sweep, the Archers sought to extend their four-peat with a sweep in 2002.

DLSU entered the final game of the eliminations spotless, against Ateneo which had to win to have a chance at the twice to beat advantage. In that game, DLSU got blown out by Ateneo in the third quarter. UE won on their next game denying the Eagles of the incentive, but the Eagles beat them anyway, thanks to Gec Chia and "the shot" on their way to their first title since 1988.

While everyone expected DLSU to top the standings in 2002, and even sweep the eliminations, virtually no one saw UE sweeping the 2007 elimination round. In the finale, UE faced, guess what team, La Salle. Unlike the 2002 game, this game went into OT, complete with Brian Ilad making Lasallians proud by being like Manny Pacquiao.

And so we make it to the 2011 Ateneo near-sweep. Adamson relived its role of being the spoiler. Like the near-sweep games before, this was a blowout in favor of the spoiler, with Ateneo suffering its biggest defeat in... I dunno? Ever since Norman Black coached them?

What's unique with the UAAP sweep scenarios is that while you'd expect Ateneo, La Salle and even UST and UE to figure in such situations, you'd never expect teams such as Adamson to participate twice -- granted Adamson's participation is not the result of a good basketball program throughout the years, it goes to show you that for a team to figure in these sweeping situations, you'd also need a little bit of luck.

For the NCAA, the circumstances are more glaring. There had only been two instances were a sweep happened: 1997 San Sebastian and 2010 San Beda. In both times, both teams faced each other in the final elimination round game and in the finals.

The 1997 San Sebastian capped off their 5-peat with a sweep of the eliminations, beating SBC, only to be beaten by the Red Lions in Game 1 of the Finals. SSC made use of the twice to beat advantage given to the sweeper, winning Game 2.

In 2010, San Beda faced the Stags in the elimination round finale. Like in the UAAP when the would-be sweeping team won, the Red Lions had a convincing 8-point win to clinch the thrice to beat advantage in the Finals. Unlike the 2007 Red Warriors, however, the 2010 Red Lions even had more convincing Finals wins, winning both games via double-digits.

In 2011... well I won't jinx.

Week 2 Top 10: Dominance, and exceptions

A week of college basketball has passed and we're treated, for the most part, a rather predictable slate of results, except for a couple of games. So we have a somewhat predictable Top 10 this week, except for a couple of teams.

#1: Ateneo Blue Eagles
This week results: Defeated NU 86-62 and UE 73-61
In a normal week, a game against NU should be easy and against UE to be tough; this year, it's the other way around. But for the defending champs, it's just like the old days when they had an easy game against the Dawgs and had not-so-blowout win over the Warriors. Don't put the blame solely on Parks: Mbe has shown no improvement.

#2: Adamson Falcons
This week's result: Defeated UST 81-71
Adamson gave UST a dose of reality when they gave the Tigers their first loss of the season. While the Falcons did it on both ends of the court, you'd have to give credit to their offense as they surpassed the 80-point barrier. The boys from San Marcelino can shoot from anywhere from UST's side of the court.

#3: San Beda Red Lions
This week's results: Defeated Arellano 92-67 and CSB 79-78
You can say all day that Frankie Lim is a bad on-game coach. He and staff deserve credit for their full-court defense against the Blazers that ultimately wasted enough time to deny CSB a decent crack at the basket. Traditionally an NCAA team belongs to the top 2 but CSB put up a good fight, hence the Lions, that massacred the hapless Chiefs earlier in the week, go to #3.

#4: San Sebastian Stags
This week's results: Defeated Letran 71-62
What was supposedly the real big bad rivalry of the NCAA was a bummer. The Stags led from start to finish, and Kevin Alas fouling out sealed the fate for the short-handed Knights. Kevin's dad Louie should really find a big man now or else the Intramuros faithful would go impatient.

#5: FEU Tamaraws
This week's results: Defeated UE 66-47 and NU 62-59
Last year's finalists had the same opponents this week, although they had contrasting wins. FEU bounced back from a colder-than-ice-cold start against UE to blow them out convincingly, while they had to muster all of their energies to push off NU at the final play of the game.

#6: Lyceum Pirates
This week's results: Defeated Mapua 76-73, Arellano 84-74
Lyceum coach Bonnie Tan has a system, and if they'd face any NCAA team not directly named after a saint, they have a decent chance of winning. All of their games aside from San Beda and San Sebastian were either wins or a competitive loss (against EAC, of all teams).

#7: De La Salle Green Archers
This week's result: Defeated UP 79-67
The gremlins expectedly won against UP. So that means they're #7 because I hate them with deep passion (LOL). However, you gotta look at coach Dindo Pumaren if he can carry this team to the Finals. Is it time to bring back Bigote?

#8: JRU Heavy Bombers
This week's result: Defeated Mapua 70-69
Surprisingly, the teams on the JRU-Mapua game entered the game with only one win from either side. Unsurprisingly, it ended close, and unsurprisingly, Mapua let go a huge lead.

#9: CSB Blazers
This week's result: Defeated by San Beda 78-79
Only eight teams won this week, so that means I'd have to add 2 teams that lost this week: one of them is the B-team of Taft. The Blazers now have swagger. I dunno if it's the coach (Richard del Rosario) or their fans wearing La Salle shirts, but any CSB game from here on out should not be taken lightly.

#10: Mapua Cardinals
This week's results: Defeated by Lyceum 76-73 and JRU 70-69
How can a winless team get in the top ten? In a week where only eight teams won, you gotta let a losing team get in. It's as if I'd let UE, UST or even NU get this last spot. So I just spent 3/4 of the paragraph justifying this entry so I should just stop.

The trash heap:
#11: UST Growling Tigers: Sorta good offense, defense needs adjustments.
#12: NU Bulldogs: Hey Mbe, Sy is paying big bucks for your scholarship and other amenities (such as escalators on your school) you gotta improve your game somehow.
#13: UP Fighing Maroons: You sorta expect them to lose against La Salle, at least they did not lose by twenty.
#14: Letran Knights: This looks like last season where they'd beat all teams that won't make it to the Final Four, and lose all games against Final Four-bound teams.
#15: UE Red Warriors: You can't really call this team shallow, when their bench and starters are practically the same in quality.
#16: Arellano Chiefs: Sudan Daniel was not the biggest loss in a team this season. It's Isaiah Ciriacruz.

Outside the barrel: (Did not play a game this week)
UPHSD Altas, EAC Generals

Player of the week: Chris Cayabyab of Lyceum
Cayabyab scored 20 points, in 4/9 shooting from beyond the arc, plus 7 rebounds and 5 dimes to lead the Pirates in their win against Mapua.

Games to watch (excluding Monday):
No marquee NCAA games this week, but the UAAP has two must-see games: UP vs. Ateneo, and La Salle vs. NU

See also: Team standings, and magic & tragic numbers -- NCAA, UAAP.

Inaugural Weekly Top 10 of 2011!

Yay! College basketball season is back! And it restores sports sanity: more people watched the Ateneo-La Salle game (~15,000) vs. the Azkals home game (~12,000). So... is Pinoy basketball really dead?

#1: Ateneo Blue Eagles
This week's result: Defeated DLSU 81-72
The Blue Eagles notch this week's #1 with a defeat over La Salle -- presumably, that is a stronger opponent that any of the yet undefeated teams played against this week. Kiefer Ravena trended worldwide for good reason: he was the first UAAP baller to register 23 points in a half since Dylan Ababou did the feat in 2009. Credit the opponent as Kiefer matched up better against the shorter Archers than the burlier Falcons.

#2: San Sebastian Stags
This week's result: Defeated UPHSD 87-60
Can somebody fill me up on this? Did Topex Robinson had already had contact with the Stags prior to his appointment? While his appointment was really sudden, but not really that surprising since it made sense -- Turo Valenzona functioned sorta like Gerald Ford. Wait, who's Gerald Ford... and Turo Valenzona was their head coach???

#3: UST Growling Tigers
This week's results: Defeated NU 73-72 in OT and UE 70-63
Perhaps everyone knew from the get-go that the Tigers can beat this year's Warriors. But the Bulldogs? Wait, who was the blue chip rookie that landed in Espana? Ah, last year's UAAP Juniors' MVP, that's who! And don't forget Jeric Fortuna's shooting. His turnover stats will surely catch up as the tourney wears on.

#4: San Beda Red Lions
This week's result: Defeated Lyceum 89-69
I could've ranked them higher than Baste, but the 20-point win over the guest team was sorta underwhelming when you compare it to the 27-point beat down by the Stags against the Altas. Then again, the Pirates took the Altas' booty. The real battles for San Beda would be against last year's Final Four teams and Letran: those will prove if they are a contender without a Black dude manning the middle.

#5: Letran Knights
This week's result: Defeated Arellano 88-70
Haven't really paid attention to this game even though I watched it, but it seems that Arellano's defenses were too weak -- they let Letran score 88 points even though they put up a respectable 70.

#6: Adamson Falcons
This week's result: Defeated FEU 78-59
Don't let the final score fool you. FEU was at screaming distance (quite farther than a shouting distance), but after FEU let Adamson pull away for good, the Falcons padded the score thanks to useless fouls from the Tams in a desperate bid to get closer. What went wrong for FEU? Despite Garcia, Romeo and Ramos, well... that's it. They're too shallow this year. Adamson, despite their non-stars, function well as a unit.

#7: CSB Blazers
This week's result: Defeated Mapua 70-67
Ah, the upset of the week. People have been screaming silently about the newly beefed up B-team of Taft, but it seems it is actually bearing fruit right now. Makes you wonder if the 400-strong CSB crowd (with some wearing "LA SALLE" shirts) smelled something that they'd win that one. Altamirano's outside sniping thwarted a Cardinals comeback to notch CSB's first win against a preceding season's Final Four team since... I dunno. Maybe after the time of Caloy Garcia?

#8: UP Fighting Maroons
This week's result: Defeated UE 69-61, defeated by NU 75-66
Hey... NU defeated UP, so why are they ranked higher? As illogical as this sounds, NU was expected to beat UP, UP was expected to beat UE but NU losing to UST was unexpected. Ah what the heck, let's give them this spot before it takes them 2 years to get back here. Nevertheless, it seems that the expectations last year are happening this year, but I dunno how would their supporters feel about that.

#9: JRU Heavy Bombers
This week's result: Defeated EAC 76-60
Njei and that other Black guy whose name I can't remember because I barely saw him play leaving was fatal -- that supposedly gimme game against Arellano was wasted. If they lost out to EAC I could imagine people calling for the Aerial Voyager's head. Their lack of ball handlers -- their perennial problem, if I may add -- seems to be their weakness in beating the less heralded teams this year.

#10: NU Bulldogs
This week's results: Defeated by UST 73-72 in OT, defeated UP 75-66.
Bobby Ray Parks scored 31 points in their win vs. UP. That means he's the first player to reach 30 points in this season. Although he shown tendencies in lebroning in the clutch, he can redeem himself if he leads the 'Dogs to victory in their next game. Against the Eagles.

The Trash Heap:
#11. EAC: Hey chicks and wannabe chicks! Jonas Paguia, the former PBB Teen housemate, is apparently better than that ultimate Survivor dude! The NCAA needs tix! Save the trees!
#12. Lyceum: Are the Pirates "over their quota"? Their game against Arellano would be another "can-win" for them. The others? Not so much.
#13. DLSU: Wait, why are the Archers aren't here? Answer: They lost this week.
#14. FEU: See above.
#15. Arellano: Need to strengthen their defense, particularly against penetrations (Nene Pimentel loves that word) and rampaging big men.
#16. UE: This will be a loooooooong season for the Defense Minister.
#17. Mapua: What went wrong with the Cards? I thought they netted a big man?
#18. UPHSD: See UE, above, replaced "Defense Minister" with "whomever their new coach is".

Player of the Week: Jeric Fortuna (UST) -- I considered several other people, but only Jeric Fortuna had stellar performances on all (if applicable) games this week. Ravena scored a big fat egg on his debut, and Parks also had a "meh" debut. Among the NCAA guys no one was stellar enough: in Baste, both Abueva and Pascual shared scoring duties and in the CSB-Mapua game, the lone competitive NCAA game of the week outside the Lyceum-EAC game, Jan Tan had the game high 15 points: not exactly player of the week material.

Games to see this week:
July 20 @Filoil: SSC-R vs. CSJL -- No NCAA rivalry is truer than this one.
July 21 @Araneta: ADMU vs. NU -- Parks vs. Ravena... and Slaughter.
July 24 @Philsports: UST vs. AdU -- Potential playoffs matchup?

Note: An earlier version said that Kiefer Ravena set a 2-year record when he scored 30 points in the Ateneo-La Salle game. That was wrong -- Ravena tied the record on most points in a half.

West Tigers redux? See for yourself!

See the logo used for San Beda Red Lions in a fan-made wallpaper? The fierce-looking red lion?
c/o postimage
Doesn't that look like the Detroit Lions logo? (See the pic after the jump.)

c/o ESPN

This was not the first time a local sports team ripped off from overseas. Remember the UST Growling Tigers logo several seasons ago? Ripped off from the West Tigers rugby team from Aussieland.
Not the same time either someone from the MVP camp was accused of intellectual dishonesty, if I may add.

Quick hits: NCAA Opening

NCAA was like a week late this year. Must be the first time in years they opened in July. Anyone know the reason? Anyway, here are the day's quick hits, judging by the linescores as I was not able to watch them (haha):

San Beda 82, UPHSD 52
I don't think any thing else has to be added here, except that maybe Perps should strongly reconsider letting their other tall guy play. Probably no school would raise a fuss, it's as if Boss Anton is at the Management Committee. San Beda can still easily clinch a semifinal berth, and by that time Sudan might be ready.

San Sebastian 73, JRU 67
What went wrong for JRU? And, it was brilliant Baste got Topex Robinson as their new head coach. Coach Turo's too old, and the last time we saw him, he was clobbered heavily at the elections. And if they don't progress, Vergel Meneses may be on his way out.

Letran 75, Mapua 65
The Battle of Intramuros must be the suki for opening day games. Seriously, who does the schedules? And as no one outside the Big Dome saw this game, you'd wonder how the game transpired as the teams were locked early. Did Mapua run of out gas? Or is this the same old Mapua mentality where they wilt at the end game?

Sunday's games: San Sebastian vs. JRU and Letran vs. Mapua (Jrs)
Monday's games: CSB vs. Lyceum and Arellano vs. EAC (Jrs/Srs)

Week 7 Top 10: The Turning Point

Four more games left per team in the UAAP season, while God knows how many are left in the NCAA tourney. UP is gone, Perps is waiting eagerly for their turn, and maroon teams have been winless so far. And it's mid-late-August already.

Also, as much as possible, I'm restricting these "weekly top 10" on their records for the week, not their overall record. Because you know, it's the Weekly Top 10.

(BTW, if you're looking for the nifty graphics I previously used, the program I'm using got corrupted so the template was lost. Wahaha. So I got lazy making a new one. Instead, let's just use some photo remotely related to the title. Like the one at the top.)


#10. CSB Blazers
2-6, 1-0 this week (defeated UPHSD 79-70)
If Jojo Lastimosa was nicknamed "Jolas", so should Carlo Lastimosa be nicknamed "Colas"? CSB is an easy team to beat. Stop Colas, and you'd win. How do you stop Colas? Let some bigger guy guard him.

#9. NU Bulldogs
4-6, 1-1 this week (lost to Ateneo 69-49, defeated UP 61-59)
I've heard the ending of the UP-NU game was mighty awesome. If someone can narrate to us what really happened, we'd be completely grateful.

#8. Letran Knights
3-6, 1-1 this week (defeated EAC 88-65, lost to JRU 76-60)
Letran can be described as one roster spot away from being at least a playoff contender. They need big men. Since Mark Andaya left the team, the Knights have had difficulties with teams with tall lineups. They have to find centers and power forwards for them to advance further.

#7. De La Salle Green Archers
6-4, 1-1 this week (defeated UP 84-63, lost to Ateneo 74-57)
You know what was the turning point in their loss against Ateneo? Ferdinand entering the game. That's when Ateneo stepped on the clutch and their import started making shooting the lights out. Hey at least Ferdinand can be like Malabes, he can run away to Indonesia once his playing years are maxed out by La Salle.

#6. Arellano Chiefs
4-5, 1-0 this week (defeated Mapua 61-54)
The Chiefs are on the rebound, thanks to Leo Isaac's coaching. Beating Mapua was a step forward if they want to qualify in the semis.

#5. UE Red Warriors
3-7, 1-0 this week (defeated Adamson 71-63)
Like Arellano, all is not lost for the Warriors team. All they have to do is... well, win games. If they can beat Adamson, and they, and I mean everyone not named Paul Lee, step up, then they can catch up on the Final 4. The Warriors have a strong guard combo in Lee and Martinez Chongson has to figure out ways on how to exploit this.

#4. JRU Heavy Bombers
7-2, 2-0 this week (defeated Mapua 61-54 and Letran 76-60)
The Bombsquad is on the loose, and only the two top NCAA teams can beat them now, now that Meneses now can win games yet setting probably a record number of turnovers. If you win yet blowout your opponent with 30+ turnovers/game, that's something. Only that it won't work with SBC and SSC. If Meneses wants the twice to bear advantage, he has to prevent these turnovers.

#3. FEU Tamaraws
9-1, 1-0 this week (defeated UST 76-67)
After a bad loss from Adamson, the Tams made sure the Tigers won't come back. FEU's semifinal stint is in the bag, and the twice to beat looking good, it's the winning in the semis -- something Capacio has yet to do -- would take them to the next level.

#2. Ateneo Blue Eagles
8-2, 2-0 this week (defeated NU 69-49 and La Salle 74-57)
Two blowout wins and they're #2? Seriously, what are you sniffing? Haven't you seen how they made the Bulldogs look like puppies, and the Archers look like... what's the junior equivalent of an Archer? Toddler Archer?

#1. San Beda Red Lions
8-0, 1-0 this week (defeated San Sebastian 88-76)
Why they heck they are #1? They're undefeated. And they make the then undefeated Stags look like drunk guys on a stag party. Sudan Daniel can match up with anyone thrown at him, and they successfully shut down Calvin "The Spitfire" Abueva with their interior defense thanks to the Semarad brothers.

Player of the week: Kirk Long (Ateneo). Did you know that Kirk Long's real name is Jeffrey, and his birthday is indefinite?
Runner-up: Referees at the UP-NU game. These guys deprived us of what could've been the longest basketball game in history. Weeee.

Scrub of the week: Rolly Manlapaz. Can someone scream "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SHOOTING FORWARD" to this guy. Thank you.
Runner-up: Ferdinand (La Salle). 0 points vs. Ateneo. I wonder why Pumaren is still putting him on the floor.

Week 5 Top 10: Mid-term Grades

Or as I call it, prelims since we didn't call them as mid-terms. So whatever.

Wait, most NCAA teams still have 2 more games left before they end their first round. The UAAP teams, who started 2 weeks later, are already finished. Perhaps the NCAA guys want to extend their season so that they can play their playoffs on weekends... at sembreak, when everyone is too drunk to watch games.


1. FEU Tamaraws (7-0, defeated UST 65-57)
If the Tams are so good, they have a choice: sweep the eliminations and wait for a month before playing in the virtual best-of-5 finals with them up 1-0, or lose so thay they won't be rusty but still pulverize the #4 team. That is, if they're that good.

2. San Beda Red Lions (6-0, defeated Arellano 92-57)
One way to train in a run-and-gun game is to practice those circus shots once the transition defense catches up. The Lions have mastered this perfectly and there is no stopping them, even if you make the shot.

3. San Sebastian Stags (6-0, defeated CSB 75-74)
The Stags almost had it coming. This sets up for an exciting 1st round finale vs. San Beda if they both continue undefeated.

4. Ateneo Blue Eagles (5-2, defeated UP 78-53 and UE 80-73)
Ateneo ended the 1st round with a bang. As expected since they're up against the two tailenders. The next games against Adamson and La Salle are virtual playoffs for #2. The Eagles must know their go-to guy in close situations to prevent what happened in the first La Salle game.

5. Adamson Falcons (5-2, defeated UE 69-56 and La Salle 70-68)
Finally, a breakthrough for Adamson as they had finally found ways to win close games. Now if they can do it again, and defeat Ateneo, they'll be in their first twice-to-beat advantage in history. The weakest link: the point guard position.

6. Mapua Cardinals (5-2, defeated EAC 82-68)
The Cardinals' two losses came from San Beda and Baste. Like Adamson, they'd have to beat the top 2 teams in their league to have a fighting chance of securing their first twice to beat advantage. Their next game vs. JRU will be the measuring stick if they can beat the other teams.

7. La Salle Green Archers (4-3, defeated by Adamson 70-68)
La Salle's MVPs: Ferdinand and Joshua "The Special One" Webb. The haterz love you lots.

8. Letran Knights (2-4, defeated CSB 70-54)
Aside from Letran winning, the other important thing that happened during their game was the Studio 23 debut of courtside reporter Myka Basco. ABS-CBN sure knows how to please their core audience. Now Letran has to devise ways of scoring to please their own core audience, since offense sells tickets.

9. NU Bulldogs (3-4, defeated UP 70-66)
Either the Bulldogs are a super awesome team, or UP is extremely crappy that's why they lost that 20-point plus lead. And I said UP would win.

By the way, Mike Silungan used to play for the interbarangay in our place as an import. My uncle's scouting report: loves to shoot, hates everything else. Yeah, instead of NU I discussed about UP.

10. EAC Generals (2-4, defeated by UPHSD 78-66)
The Generals seem to have found their shooting touch, beating Perps and CSB a week ago. Now if they manage to beat the likes of Arellano and Letran they can have a respectable finish.

Week 3 Top 10: Tams are not 5-0

For some reason, our friends from Inboundpass screwed up, saying the FEU Tamaraws are now 5-0. Yeah, even I screw up, tons of times. But no one visits this blog so it's OK.

On with the show.

But first, a minor problem. (Hey I thought you said "On with the show"? What's up with this?)

The NCAA has nine teams. They play four times a week. That means, only eight teams play, and at least one team is having a week off. That is, if a team plays twice a week, or a gameday is suspended, then the whole schedule is thrown into chaos.

Why is this important? In making a "top 10," at least 5 teams per league (NCAA and UAAP) must win in a week. In the current scheme of things, a maximum four teams can win per week, that means I have to give a spot for an NCAA team that lost. But if all games in a week were blowouts then I'd get someone from the UAAP, and that usually means I'd get a losing team too. So it's hard. And it sucks. But that's life. Screw you ABS-CBN. And Boom Gonzalez. Yeah, I really have to say that.

1. FEU Tamaraws (4-0, defeated UE 91-81, and UP 94-70)
The Tamaraws had a scare on the third quarter on their game against archrivals UE, with Paul Lee reliving last year's semifinals with outrageous treys, but the Tams held on for the win, and made UP join UE at the cellar with a drubbing.

2. San Beda (4-0, defeated Letran 77-60)
Bedans must be God-like for Louie Alas to remark "Parehas lang kayong tao" during one of his time outs. San Beda's PBA-caliber frontline fuels their run-and-gun game. Grab the boards, throw the outlet pass and score. It pays also to work on those circus shots in practice once the transition defense gets in the way.

3. La Salle (3-1, defeated Ateneo 66-63)
You know Ateneo is in trouble when Kirk "ZOMG did I just hit that" Long and Emann "ZOMG I'm still in Team A" Monfort is out of the game. Marata scored when needed, and Ferdinand made it exciting for the neutrals.

4. San Sebastian (4-0, defeated Mapua 68-49)
Haven't seen the game, but Baste must've been so good it made the floods in Intramuros that day felt a little deeper.

5. JRU (4-1, defeated CSB 74-65)
The Heavy Bombers struck off the third undefeated team in the NCAA. Richard del Rosario is not happy.

6. Ateneo (2-2, defeated by La Salle 66-63)
I daresay La Salle scored a chamba on that one. Too bad chambas do count. Ateneo needs a go-to-guy or else they'll see Justin Chua shooting Hail Mary's from the 50-yard line in order to send a game into OT.

7. Adamson (3-1, defeated UST 75-71)
For some reason, Leo Austria must not know the names of his players (he calls his point guard as "point guard") but either way it worked as they safely inbounded the ball against UST during the dying seconds to secure a morale-boosting win.

8. NU (2-2, defeated UE 70-63)
The 'Dogs are out and, with cash coming from your nearest SM mall, the 'Dogs are out to erase the stigma that they are the bonus team.

9. UST (2-2, defeated UP in OT 87-81, defeated by Adamson 75-71)
Pido must've spent a lot of time drilling Jeric Fortuna into a marksman, but it'll take more than that for UST to surpass their season quota of 2 wins.

10. UP (0-4, defeated by UST in OT 87-81, and by FEU 94-70)
So what the heck is a winless team doing in here? Hey at least they almost won one game, unlike the other beaten teams (with wins or otherwise) this week.

The queue:
11. Arellano (2-3, defeated UPHSD 86-67): Why are they not in the Top 10? Because they beat a team that still has to win something?
12. CSB (1-1, defeated by JRU 74-65): Among the losers, they had the bMaest point differential.
13. Mapua (2-2, defeated by San Sebastian 68-49): At least they were beaten by an unbeaten team.
14. Letran (1-3, defeated by San Beda 77-60): Ditto, but the loss should've been more pathetic than Mapua's.
15. UE (0-4, defeated by FEU 91-81, and by NU 70-63): Something is wrong at Recto, and it's not just the black market of falsified documents.
16. UPHSD (0-5, defeated by Arellano 86-67): Maybe they should allow Ynion to score more. At least they won when they did that.
17. EAC (0-3, DNP this week): Hey at least Perps sorta gave their opponents a fight, unlike the Generals.

Hey LeBron, didn’t Bedans invent “Dynas-Three”?

Back in 2008, when Bedans are about to whore themselves into a third consecutive championship thanks to Sam Ekwe, the Nigerian nobody in the (Philippine) NCAA can guard, they invented slogans to celebrate their whoredom.
Hey, if your college program is that crappy, why not fetch a behemoth out of Nigeria, tell the world that he is studying to become a priest, and don him in a basketball jersey?

In 2006, they “Ended 28 at 82”, or ended 28 years of futility in the 82nd year (NOT season) of the NCAA. In 2007, I forgot what they were up to, (Letranites had “Relive ’83 @ 83”, or relive their 1983 NCAA championship in the 83rd year of the NCAA), but in 2009, Bedans had “Dynas-three.” Apparently, they were smart enough to know that in order to be a legit dynasty, you’d have to win three consecutive times. (Sorry Spurs fans, that San Antonio team, although impressive, was not a dynasty.)

Enough of that Bedan rant, rest assured, they probably won those three titles following league rules, you gotta hand it to them. So now, when I watched LeBron’s introduction ceremony to the Miami Heat, and the announcer guy (certainly an improvement over the Cavs PA; remember that game where the Q Arena’s shot clock got effed up?) said they’re now the Dynas-Three. ZOMG. Unless you live in an alternate universe, the Miami Heat has NEVER won an NBA title when it was 5 vs. 5 on the court; when it was 8 vs. 5, sure that was one championship having a cute little asterisk like the ball Barry Bonds blasted against the Washington Nationals to break the home run record. But even Bedans will tell you, with law books in tow that Miami was, and is not a dynasty.

You’re probably asking me how the heck San Beda College and alternate universes got into the picture; you’re here to ask why the hell LeBron went to that rinky-dink town. Let’s see who LeBron won’t be after this move:

He won’t be like Michael Jordan (first two incarnations), Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, currently Kobe Bryant and the great Isiah Thomas: players who played in one team and won championships with them. Those championships increased the mythic status of those players.

He won’t be like Reggie Miller, John Stockton, formerly Paul Pierce, and currently Dirk Nowitzki: great players who never won but achieved mythic status not only for their great play but loyalty on a single team. Miller and Stockton were more tragic: they stayed on small-market teams but led those teams to the Finals, only to fail.

He won’t be like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Robert Horry: won championships with two different teams. They may not be as mythic in their “home” teams but as are as impressive as the two previous examples.

He won’t be like Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, Gary Payton, and Jun Limpot (HAHA): the chip whores. Those who won ditched loyalty to win the championship in the near-twilight of their careers for the sole reason that they absolutely, really, have to win one to cement their legacy.

He won’t be like Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Shawn Kemp and Patrick Ewing: those who switched teams but failed. They did it past their prime, and like the earlier group, they had to end their careers with at least one title, but it ended in futility.

Heck, he won’t be like Shaquille O’Neal who ditched the Magic after like a couple of seasons to play with the Lakers.

Instead, LeBron will be in a class of his own: the player who ditched loyalty, who ditched “I’m only 25, I can still do this by my own” mantra. He is now the modern-day Scottie Pippen, only that he’d be paid more. He’s now the Robin to Miami’s Batman: Tim Donaghy, er… David Stern… oh eff that, Dwayne Wade. He could’ve joined the Nets or Knicks and proclaim that it is his team. Yet he tapped out, like the guy on the Brock Lesnar UFC fight not named Brock Lesnar. He has emasculated himself. Hey, if you’re game is that crappy, why not hitch on someone else’s coattails?

And oh, the San Beda Red Lions 2010 slogan is “REDemption”, hey at least it’s not “Redeem Team”. We all know where that came from.

TGTBATU: Where Aloy Taplah wants to be like Tony Romo

Opening Day is here and it's time for the first installment of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The premise is self-explanatory. Each game day, I'd bring the good, the bad and the ugly things that happened in the day's games.

The Good:
The muses: Like come on, you should've seen how the JRU muse... uh... "bounced" around. I meant that in a good way.

Letran defense: If you want hardcore, macho hoops, watch the NCAA games. Players get bruised, bloodied just by breathing the air on the court.

Calvin Abueva's efficiency: Whatever the reason, the Beast stayed for only a few minutes on court. However, Abueva, for every minute that he is in, has at least a point. That's efficiency.

San Beda's fastbreak: The secret for San Beda's success relies on their bigs: they get the rebound, that leads to a fastbreak that often results in two points.

The bad:
JRU offense: Just as how good San Beda's offense is, is just how bad JRU's offense during the game. It's prehistoric: dump the ball on Joe Etame and pray to the gods something happens.

The referees: Especially in the first game, the referees called on every foul in the books. Let the children play, so to speak. This is not the NBA where David Stern needs Dwayne Wade or LeBron James to make money.

Studio 23 lighting: People in the internets complained of really bad reception. I thought the reception was too bright, which I liked since I had bad eyesight. Is this where the money went for those HDTV equipments? (Yeah, I know, Studio 23's broadcast was in SDTV. Just saying.)

The ugly:
Papa Boyet and the San Sebastian president: God bless the good priest, but that interview made Ron Artest cry.

Aloy Taplah wants to be Tony Romo: Hey kid, this is not the NFL where you'd perform a forward pass in each and every position! Watch some rugby union games, for a change!

The Stag who wanted to be Jacob: As someone in PinoyExchange pointed out, if it weren't for the antlers we would've thought that the guy was wearing a wolf costume. Maybe he wanted to be Jacob. San Sebastian Team Jacobs squeeeeeeeeeeee.

NCAA preseason winners/losers

As the lineups are revealed, who and which teams would be the winners and losers this upcoming NCAA season? Let's track them down:

Winners:
San Beda Red Lions: Although San Beda had quite a few players lost to graduation, what they held over will be more than enough to keep them in the hunt for the twice to beat advantage. Add to that key pickups and the RL is a lock for at least a semifinals berth.

Calvin Abueva: If you've seen the overly silly allegations of Abueva using roids in the internets during last year's playoffs, you can only be sure he'd be raring to go out more this season, especially with Jimbo Aquino leaving.

EAC Generals: While the status of their Malaysian-Chinese pick-up maybe uncertain, if he does get the green light, the Generals may have a better performance in the NCAA season compared with their miserable stint in the summer leagues.

Kevin Alas: Last year's semifinal game vs. San Beda was the passing of the torch at Letran. RJ Jazul deferred the last shot to Kevin Alas, and although he missed, it shows he is more than willing to take the big shot.

Jonathan Banal: After missing last season due to injury, Banal is looking to make up for lost time. With a respectable finish to last year's tournament, Mapua is seen as one of the sleepers of the tournament, with some even tagging them as Final Four contender.

UPHSD Altas: Who told you PCU is gone for good? Their players are now with their 2004 adversary Perps, and with Boris Aldeguer at the helm, this team has nowhere to go but up.

Male hoops fans: We have at least four new NCAA courtside reporters! Ain't that sweet?

Losers:
Arellano Chiefs: With Gio Ciriacruz lost to graduation, the Chiefs may find a tougher road ahead even with Leo Isaac at the helm.

JRU Heavy Bombers: As what Mike Abasolo said, the Bombers may have an intact line-up, but the loss of John Wilson, their only big-time scorer, needs to be filled up. It's up to Marvin Hayes and company to fill that void.

The two Perps players found to be ineligible: Using spurious documents, those two players might find themselves unable to play in any NCAA for rest of their lives. This may also affect Aldeguer's rotation, but fortunately, it happened before the season, and before wins were tallied. As we all know, any wins where those players would've played are forfeited.

Andrei Felix: Hey at least Jennylyn Mercado named her child after him. Uyyyyyy showbiz.

Student-athletes: With the first round only having two Monday games, expect the tournament to drag on forever; plus expect some days lost to bad weather and we'd be playing basketball by the time students enroll for the second semester.

Courtside reporters redux: 2010 edition

Ah, college hoops season. The season where the volleyball fangirls and fangays go on hibernation... not. They ogle the hot boys as if they are Justin Bieber.

Us boys also have reasons to watch hoops aside from seeing sweaty men trash talk each other a la Mark Cardona, dance a la Ryan Arana and just be subjected to displays of overall stupidity a la Joshua Webb. We have the perky, pretty and just flat out awesome courtside reporters. Yes, that doesn't include you, Boom Gonzales.

Since NCAA Season 86 is to start first, let's have a preview of the new courtside reporters in town, special thanks to the ever reliable Facebook for pics. Hahah.

First, the "oldies," the returning courtside reporters:

Trishka Echiverri: San Sebastian
EJ Gamboa: San Beda
Erika Liboro: Arellano
Ef Maronilla: Mapua
Mischi Mediana: JRU (previously AUF)

Now, on to the new ones!

1. Myka Basco
Myka is a 17-year old Communication Arts student of Letran. First seen at ABS-CBN's FreshLook Campus Color 2009, you may have seen her at TV5's Talentadong Pinoy as one-half of the Soda Sisters duo (yes, they really are sisters). Last time I saw them, they sang a Pussycat Dolls song. And it appears that she is friendly, considering she has over 3,000 friends in Facebook. Yay!

Some Myka pics:





2. Michelle Lim
Michelle is CSB's courtside reporter. Aside from the pic, and the fact she "likes" Grey's Anatomy, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, So You Think You Can Dance? and One Tree Hill, I have no info on her. You can follow her on Twitter, though, since it's not private.

3. Zahra Bianca A. Saldua
Zahra is the Perps courtside reporter. I have no pic, but you can check out her Facebook. Somewhere.

4. Bernadette Meneses
For some reason, Myka didn't make it, and I broke it first at PEX (hahah) that Bernadette Meneses will be Letran's courtside reporter this season. Bernadette is a member of Letran's dean's lister organization and is a junior Communications Arts student. But yeah, you didn't go here to know that so here are some pics:






Note: All pictures came from public websites, that can be seen by everybody.

2009 yearender: Top 10 local sports stories

Local sports had their own fair share of shining moments this year: epic (I love that word) upsets, dominating performances, comebacks deserving of a Guinness, and sheer stupidity worth watching a YouTube over and over again.

#10: Lady Archers are the volley queens
Thanks to the Shakey's V-League, everyone now cares about the UAAP's women's volleyball championship. La Salle dispatched Adamson in 4 sets (the last set with a scoreline of 25-13), and FEU returned the favor with a dissimilar 4-set win over UST. MVP Manilla Santos and Rookie of the Year Melissa Gohing faced off with best setter May Morada, all-around dependable girl Rachel Anne Daquis, and upcoming star Cherry Vivas. Game 1 went the distance with FEU winning. But La Salle came out with a dominating performance in Game 2 to force a winner-take-all Game 3. Inside an overflowing and newly-renamed Filoil Flying V Arena, the Lady Archers outlasted the Lady Tamaraws, who had to play with Daquis riding the bench to hand La Salle their fifth women's volley title.

#9: Seventh heaven for Pac-Man
Manny Pacquiao ended the 2009 leg of his "North American tour" with an 11th round knockout of Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. Cotto wasn't even punching in the latter stages of the fight, and Kenny Bayless took pity on the Puerto Rican. Twitter even had a "#cottosface" hash tag to celebrate the momentous event. Even Cotto's mom wouldn't like #cottosface.

#8: Uber epic Green fail
Ah, the usual palusots of people: many veterans left so we have a crappy team. That argument only holds water if there are no replacements, or "rookies" (for some reason, I don't like using that word in an amateur, or in this case, collegiate, context. Use freshmen, sophomore and the like instead.) that came in. And with DLSU's awesome recruiting capabilities, even PBA teams would turn green with envy, you can't count out DLSU in any season. But alas, one of their recruits came back to the loving arms of his father (pardon the pun), and while the remaining recruits weren't bad (in fact they were, as expected, impressive), the vets who remained had such crappy performances supporters were wondering what Franz Pumaren was thinking when he placed those "vets" in pivotal minutes. And with the last game vs. NU where DLSU could've
forged a playoff vs. UST and/or Adamson for the last playoff berth, the Green Archers proved to everyone that they were not worthy of a playoff spot. At least for this year.

#7: Bella Swan would proud of the Tigresses
The Tigresses made the Shakey's V-League their playground by sweeping all two championships given by the league. UST won the 1st conference on 3 sets, with the 2 winning sets via a 3 sets to none scoreline, beating the San Sebastian Lady Stags. On the 2nd conference, the Tigresses didn't give the Lady Falcons a chance, sweeping the series 2-0 on identical 3-1 scores. Rhea Dimaculangan, Mary Jean Balse and Aiza Maizo made UST an unstoppable force in the V-League, now with the leagie-high 5 championships.

#6: MVP for the Ages
PLDT head honcho Manny V. Pangilinan, which also makes him team owner of the Talk 'N Text PBA team, had a banner year in sports, with the only disappointment coming from the Red and White school near the Palace. In the PBA, the Tropang Texters, relied on, ironically a Lasallian, Mark Cardona to carry the cudgels for the team. Cardona had a monster semifinal series against San Miguel, in which he capped off a three-pointer to seal the deal, and the defensive rebound as insurance to put the Texters in the Finals. Facing the Aces, which lead 3-2, Cardona scored game high on points for the rest of the way to avenge the then Phone Pals' loss against the Aces in the 2007 Fiesta Conference. Cardona's exploits gave him his first pro Finals MVP award.

#5: Sheer Blue dominance
If this Ateneo team failed to win it all this year, it would've been the epic disappointment of the decade, the epic upset for the team that would've done the feat, and MVP, in the words of the immortal Green (Over)Mind, MVP would've plucked Pat Riley out of retirement to coach Ateneo next season. What did the Blue Eagles is probably the most formidable starting line-up in the latter half of the decade: Al-Hussaini, Baclao, Buenafe, Reyes and Tiu, plus sixth man Salamat, who'd be a starter in any other collegiate team in the country.

#4: The return of the Beermen
Like Ateneo, San Miguel is a team built to win championships. However, with the fickle nature of the PBA playoffs (virtually ALL teams participate, leading to upsets), San Miguel has won only once in the two-conference era, despite finishing within the top three after the elimination round in five occasions. However, they did finish #1 in the 2009 Fiesta Conference, and had a relatively easy semifinal series against the Burger King Whoppers, coached by old adversary Yeng Guiao. Facing sister team Barangay Ginebra, and I won't imply cooking happened, the Beermen showed that their latest championship was a well-deserved one, winning the last two games being behind 2-3 in the series, and the seventh game was a dominating performance, even Ginebra fans stayed for the awarding ceremonies.

#3: Bata and Django weave their magic
The World Cup of Pool arrives at Asia, and the Philippines has been a constant host of WPA events. Pinoys flocked to cheer to their two teams, Philippines "A" of Ronnie Alcano and Dennis Orcollo, and Philippines "B" of Efren Bata Reyes and Django Bustamante. In the end, only one Philippine team remained, and Bata and Django summed it up: they weren't playing for themselves, they played for the country. And they won to the delight of the fans who stayed late at night to watch the final.

#2: The fall of the team from the West Coast
What do Sudan Daniel, Rome dela Rosa, and Ginno Soliman have in common, aside from playing for San Beda? They all came from the city of Angels -- no, not Angeles City, but from Los Angeles, California. The home of the Lakers and Kobe. And they fell to the Central Luzon Combine called the San Sebastian Golden Stags, and a Canadian by the name of Jonathan Semira.

#1: Pac-Man demolishes a white dude
There's something about white guys and boxing. The Klitschko brothers are the only white boxers that had been universally recognized as heavyweight champions since God knows when. In the lower divisions, Hispanics, Blacks and Asians dominate the field. Americans had fared badly -- white Americans have been searching for the "Great White Hope." The Brits produced one, by the name of Ricky Hatton. And knowing the rowdy nature of British fans, Hatton acquired a massive fanbase. And with Pinoys not left behind, they all rallied behind the country's "National Fist". Americans were reduced to mere spectators as two foreigners slugged it out in boxing's capital -- Las Vegas. Too bad the preview shows on HBO were longer -- the fight lasted a mere 6 minutes in boxing time.

Decadender: 10 greatest Pinoy college hoops playoff games

Ah, the decade of the 2000s (2000 to 2009), included the tail end of the second millennium (2000 -- the new millennium actually began on 2001, unless Jesus was born at year 0) brought Pinoy college hoops to new heights: the revival of the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry, with FEU and UST figuring in the mix, epic Letran-PCU battles, the resurrection of San Beda's basketball program, and suspensions due to forged documents. The old decade ended with a glimmer of hope -- an impending expansion of the oldest collegiate league, and UE on the verge of winning it all, well, they're always on the verge of winning it all so...

#10: Game 2 of the 2005 UAAP Finals: FEU 73, La Salle 71
There was one reason why Arwind Santos didn't go pro in 2005: to avenge what happened to the Tams in 2004. Arwind got his wish when the FEU and La Salle met again in a rematch the year before: only this time, FEU now has to counter the exploits of Joseph Yeo.

In this season, FEU, La Salle and Ateneo were the top 3 teams, but only two teams will advance to the Finals: FEU was beaten by Ateneo at the tail end of the eliminations but that wasn't enough as they left the Blues and the Greens behind. The arch-rivals faced each other in a playoff for the second seed, and La Salle maintained their mastery over the school from Katipunan with a blowout win. The Archers ended the Eagles' misery with another blowout at the semifinals to forge a Finals rematch with the Tamaraws, who were taken to the limit by the UE Red Warriors.

Game 1 ended with the heroics of Arwind Santos in the final minutes; This was also the game where Lasallians would rather forget(?) when Manny Salgado hit Arwind at the back of his head, then ran away screaming like a little girl .Arwind again saved the team in Game 2, also in the final play to deny the Green Archers a win in the Finals series. The next day, the La Salle scandal was exposed in the papers. No, it was not the sex scandal.

#9: Game 1 of the 2003 UAAP semifinals: La Salle 76, Ateneo 72
Everyone from Ateneo and La Salle in 2003 wanted an Ateneo-La Salle finals (but they'll answer you that they'll take any opponent, but deep down inside, they craved for it.), but Arwind Santos and FEU had other plans. And they along with UE tied with Ateneo for first; La Salle had their worst season in Final Four history -- bad enough for a 7-7 record and a #4 seed. Ateneo got the #1 seed, FEU defeated UE in the playoff for #2, and the Ateneo-La Salle Finals would have to wait. Hey, at least there'll be an Ateneo-La Salle semifinals.

Unlike in 2001 (see #7), LA Tenorio is now a seasoned UAAP veteran, and La Salle was in a "rebuilding" mode. Despite being in a rebuilding mode, La Salle surprised everybody with a spirited semifinals, until it got too spirited in which LA Tenorio punched Jerwin Gaco at his side, and Ryan Arana was in his usual wasted self. Ejections and twenty real-time minutes later, the game resumed and La Salle forced a Game 2. With Tenorio and Arana suspended, Ateneo won to face FEU in the Finals, and series that they will lose.

#8: Game 1 of the 2000 NCAA Finals: CSB 66, San Sebastian 64
2000 was the Green Year: La Salle won the men's and women's UAAP basketball championships, and CSB qualified for the NCAA Finals for the first time in their history, and only in their second year in the league, under probation.

CSB was led by he triumvirate of Mark Magsumbol, Sunday Salvacion and Jondan Salvador, Baste had Christian Coronel and Mark Macapagal. The Stags led in the early going, but CSB cashed in at the second half in what appeared to be an easy win over last year's #1 seed (unceremoniously booted out by fourth-seeded Letran Knights in the semifinals). SSC-R prevented a rout when CSB started throwing the ball like hell, and the Stags led 64-61. But Al Magpayo, the NCAA Rookie of the Year, scored on a 3-point play off a Macapagal foul to tie the game 64-all. With forty seconds left, and the Stags gave away the possession. Magsumbol drove from the weak side, and scored on another lay-up. Coronel raced towards the other side to force OT, but was thwarted to hand CSB game 1 of the series. CSB blew out the Stags in Game 2 to clinch their still only NCAA championship for the school.

#7: Game 3 of the 2001 UAAP Finals: La Salle 74, Ateneo 68
La Salle are the three-time defending champions. They faced two different opponents in three years, and they vanquished them all. Ateneo was in a 13-year championship drought, and coach Joe Lipa's job hangs in the balance. Ateneo gave La Salle a scare in Game 1, but Ateneo broke through with a Game 2 win thanks to a Magnum Membrere trey that Ren-Ren Ritualo wasn't able to answer at the other end to force Game 3.

In Game 3, it was the tale of two players: Carlo Sharma scoring 22 points, and 11 points in the payoff period that negated rookie LA Tenorio's 30 points -- yes, 30 points for a rookie in Game 3 -- to give La Salle the third four-peat in the UAAP.

#6: Game 1 of the 2006 UAAP Finals: Ateneo 73, UST 72
Despite the Ateneans' constant downplaying of their chances for the 2006 season, the Blue Eagles suffered only two defeats during the abbreviated elimination round thanks to La Salle's suspension: an inconsequential game against UE, and an overtime loss against their Finals opponents UST. Thomasians were just giddy to be in the Finals, having to go through three games to get there.

Ateneo and UST played a see-saw game all throughout, and again it hinged on the final possession of the game for each team: Ateneo lead by one point when Jervy Cruz had a tough time entering Ateneo's interior defense. He kicked out the ball to Allan Evangelista, who was covered well by Doug Kramer himself. The UST captain sank a fadeaway jumper to put UST up by one, but there was still a fraction of a second remaining.

Norman Black then devised what could've been the most exhilarating play of the decade. Macky Escalona inbounded the ball, Chris Tiu set a pick to separate Japs Cuan and Doug Kramer from each other, and Escalona gave the ball to Kramer for a wide-open lay-up to give Ateneo a 1-0 series lead.

#5: Game 1 of the 2004 NCAA semifinals: Letran 65, PCU 64
Letran wanted a back-t0-back title run, after a masterful conquest of San Sebastian a season earlier. However, two of the newest schools in the league, PCU and UPHSD finished tied for first. Letran had to settle for a semifinal meeting with PCU, having to win twice. They could've finished easily in the top 2 but hot-headed Ronjay Enrile was suspended for choking a San Sebastian player in eliminations.

On this game, Letran and PCU forged what could've been college basketball's epic rivalry of the decade, only that PCU's juniors teams did something silly and wasted a perfect opportunity to lay the foundations of a collegiate basketball powerhouse team. In one of the first semifinal games in years to be played at the Araneta Coliseum, the Dolphins and the Knights contested every possession like its their last. It all boiled down to the final possession of the game, with the Knights of the offensive and down by two points. Jonathan Aldave, one of the pieces of Letran's balanced attack of the decade, let go a three-pointer at the final buzzer. It went in, and Letran extended the series to a deciding game at the Rizal Memorial, where they were upended by the Dolphins in OT, with Enrile back in the lineup, on their way to their only NCAA championship.

#4: Game 3 of the 2004 UAAP Finals: La Salle 68, FEU 65
Ateneo-La Salle rivalry? FEU and La Salle also revived their own rivalry (a rivalry one side rather downplays) in the 2000s. FEU and La Salle peaked at the middle of the decade, with two consecutive Finals match-ups. In the first, FEU and La Salle needed the full three games to arrive at a conclusion.

Game 3 was what the scalpers wanted, an epic game to end the season. It all had the ingredients of a rivalry: teams that hate each other, Anton Montinola, and rich people behaving badly. And yes, an epic game to boot, too. FEU were the defending champions, and La Salle just came from a "rebuilding" season to qualify for the Finals anew. The Tams had Arwind Santos and Denok Miranda. The Lasallians already lost Ren-Ren Ritualo and Mike Cortez to the pros. But they still had Mark Cardona, Joseph Yeo and from "their" farm team at Mendiola, JV Casio. Arwind had his usual game, but the vaulted La Salle offense kept them in the running. It all came down to La Salle's last possession with game tied at 68-all. JV Casio shot a three-pointer over an outstretched hands of an FEU defender. It went in. FEU sued for time, and on their last possession, Denok Miranda missed on a desperation drive to the hoop. The teams were still scrambling for the rebound when the horn sounded, and the Archers won anew.

Of course, due to the Benitez/Gatchalian scandal (that sounded nasty), La Salle had to surrender their championship. To the FEU Tamaraws. But still, Arwind held off his pro debut for another season because of this (see #10).

#3: Game 3 of the 2006 NCAA Finals: San Beda 68, PCU 67
Bill Velasco said, he had never seen a multitude of grown men cry, until this. San Beda was on a 28-year championship drought. Last time they were champions, martial law ruled the land. Coming into the mix in the middle of 2005 after SBC had a 0-6 start, Koy Banal led the Lions to a two-game winning streak, only to be halted by Letran in 2005. Banal didn't waver, and the Red Lions picked up the Ekwelizer from Africa: Sam Ekwe. Sam Ekwe gave matchup problems to all teams except one: the PCU Dolphins, who have a brigade of big guys not afraid to mix it up down low.

The first two games of the Finals were actually blowouts: San Beda blew out PCU in Game 1, and PCU prevented an early celebration with an ever bigger blowout in Game 2. Game 3 was seeming like an imminent crowning of the Red Lions: the Dolphins were down by 15 points at the start of the fourth quarter. The Dolphins had arguably the better roster: Gabby Espinas, Rob Sanz, Beau Belga and Jason Castro (all 4 played in the pros), but San Beda had the Ekwelizer. PCU, egged by their token contingent of fans, cut the lead to one in the final minute. San Beda turned over the ball. This was looking like the dreaded 1991 Finals versus Mapua, that shot by Benny Cheng Bedans would rather want to forget. Jason Castro had the ball, and he didn't know what to do with it, but to run out the clock and attempt at the last half-second. Castro was well covered. He passed on to Belga, who was just inside the arc -- he released the ball, missed, Yousif Aljamal grabbed the rebound, and 28 years of frustration was over. But grown men still had to cry.

#2: Game 3 of the 2006 UAAP Finals: UST 76, Ateneo 74 in OT
After an epic Game 1 and a downer of a Game 2, no one really knew how Game 3 would be like. Many people expected Ateneo to be back with a vengeance after a weak Game 2. It would be a fitting end for the collegiate careers of Macky Escalona and JC Intal, who had played second fiddle to Ateneo's 2002 championship. UST fans were just all giddy to be even playing in theGame 3 of the Finals.

So the stage was set. First quarter was close; in the second quarter, Ateneo threatened to pull away. The Tigers growled their back to the game in the second half. Down by just 5, the Tiger cause suffered a set back when rookie center Jervy Cruz fouled out. Atenean Macky Escalona was playing the game of his life, finishing the game with a game-high 28 points. In the final minute, Anthony Espiritu scored a trey, then Mark Canlas scored on a put-back. Intal missed on the other hand as the horn sounded to force overtime.

In overtime, neither team pulled away. With the score tied, Intal missed anew. Players from both teams grabbed the rebound, necessitating for a jump ball -- in this case, the possession arrow was used, and it pointed to UST. Eric Salamat fouled the former UAAP juniors MVP June Cortez; Cortez scored the first FT, missed the second intentionally. Ateneo got the rebound but they weren't able to dribble the ball near their court, causing a half-court heave. The coliseum gasped -- it missed. The Tigers are back on top.

Before #1: The rest
Before I give out the #1, lemme show other notable games of the decade, from earliest to the latest:
Fourth-seed playoff of the 2001 UAAP playoffs (NU 108, UE 102 in 2OT): NU qualifies for their still only UAAP Final Four apperance with an upset against UE.
Game of the 2001 UAAP Finals (Ateneo 76, La Salle 72)
Game 1 of the 2002 UAAP Finals (Ateneo 72, La Salle 70): Fonacier blocked Cardona twice.
Game 1 of the 2002 NCAA Finals (SSC-R 79, CSB 78): Baste finally beats CSB in the Finals. They'll later complete their conquest of the Blazers with a blowout Game 2 win.
Game 2 of the 2004 NCAA semifinals (UPHDS 58, San Beda 56): Jerome Paterno misses a gimme lay-up at the dying seconds to give Perps the Finals appearance.
Game 2 of the 2004 NCAA semifinals (PCU 85, Letran 80 in OT): With Ronjay Enrile back, the Knights weren't able to complete the improbable when he missed pressure FTs in the final minutes of OT.
Game 1 of the 2006 UAAP semifinals (Ateneo 76, Adamson 73): With the Eagles up by four, Ken Bono completes a three-point play. Chris Tiu turned the ball over, and Patrick Cabahug had the chance to win the game for the Falcons, but missed. Tiu sealed the game with insurance FTs.
Second-seed playoff of the 2007 UAAP playoffs (La Salle 70, Ateneo 69): La Salle virtually seals their Finals appearance when Ateneo shot a two-pointer rather than a trey as time expired.
Game 1 of the 2006 UAAP semifinals (UST 79, UE 75): June Cortez's three point play put the game away for the Red Warriors.
Game 2 of the 2006 UAAP semifinals (UST 82, UE 71): Another three point play, this time from Jojo Duncil, puts UST up for good; Marcy Arellano's drive to the basket cuts the lead to 1, UST turns the ball over, and Jorel Canizares misses a medium-range jumper.
Game 1 of the 2007 UAAP Finals (La Salle 64, UE 63): Despite Mark Borboran scoring a trey to tie the score, Rico Maierhofer sealed the game with a free-throw (Borboron missed a last-second trey at the dying seconds) to give DLSU a 1-0 series lead.
Game 1 of the 2008 NCAA semifinals (JRU 63, Letran 61): RJ Jazul turned the ball over for like three times costing CSJL the win.
Game 2 of the 2008 NCAA Finals (JRU 62, San Beda 60): This was the game where Jayson Nocom's jumpers were automatic.
Game 1 of the 2009 NCAA Finals (SSC-R 72, San Beda 68 in 2OT): The game where Bedans thought Calvin Abueva used performance-enhancing drugs.

#1: Game 2 of the 2002 UAAP semifinals: Ateneo 72, UE 70
You've probably still had nightmares or daydream this. Ateneo just came off the heels of preventing La Salle a 14-0 sweep, thereby giving the playoffs its usual #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 format. Ateneo was seeded #3, and they had to win twice over UE led by guys such as Ronald Tubid, James Yap, Paul Artadi, Arnold Booker and a budding KG Canaleta. Ateneo also had a stellar cast: Enrico Villanueva, LA Tenorio, Rich Alvarez, Larry Fonacier and coached by Joel Banal.

The game was hotly contested. In the fourth quarter, it was tied 70-all in the last 7.8 seconds when Artadi turned over the ball. Tenorio raced towards the other end, but Yap (who hadn't met the Atenean Kris Aquino) , who was (and still is) not known for his defense, covered Tenorio. Tenorio found Gec Chia, the intrams star that Joe Lipa didn't use that much in 2001, shook off Ronald Tubid, and released the ball over the outstretched arms of Olan Omiping. The shot went in and Ateneo booked a Finals rematch with La Salle.