Racing Stripes: The Dawn of a New Empire

Seriously, it'll get worse once Kiefer Ravena graduates.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are your three-pe... wait, I can't use that since Pat Riley owns the rights. Oh, hasn't anyone emailed Pat Riley yet? The three-pe... you know what is, is plastered on those championship T-shirts.

So I won't make this a rant. Well, maybe it might. For those who said the refs helped them, FEU choked, or that Emman Monfort is Joe Lipa's long lost son, screw you. It was fate, I tell you.

Saw that trey by Ryan Buenafe? That was fate. He missed more three point shots this year than Shaquille O'Neal missed freethrows his entire career. But he nailed it. Swoosh.

The Tamaraws have no answer. RR Garcia was nowhere. Ramos and Cervantes were missing freethrows. Even Romeo, OK, I won't make a Shakespearean joke.

And this is just the beginning. The MVP-financed teams (well, up to this year when MVP found a boatload of cash he started financing other teams) are doing pretty well. Ateneo with its deep coffers can overachieve as long as either Kiefer Ravena signs up (LOL, sign up. It's like professional basketball), or other teams won't get Taiwanese/Chinese/Hong Konger centers. San Beda just swept the NCAA eliminations like Sunshine Corazon's mother. Even the Sys won't be able to match Ateneo now.

And so, with the impending domination of the evil empire, all we can do is for a team to be like the Boston Red Sox. I sure do hope it's not that team that resides in place that has the same name as the salts of malic acid.

BTW, the results of the UAAP Playoffs poll: Which team will win the UAAP Season 73 men's basketball championship?
(1) FEU Tamaraws: 13
(2) Ateneo Blue Eagles: 11
(3) Adamson Falcons: 1
(4) La Salle Green Archers: 1
Forget about basketball, champions naman kami sa cheerdance woohoo!: 0
Thanks for voting!

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.

The race to the finish

Advisory: No Game 3 updates today on this blog. Sorry.

I could've bombarded the introduction with a ton of "finish line" metaphors, but since everyone uses that I won't do it. So, we'd just go to the nitty-gritty of Game 3 of the Finals series between Ateneo and UE.

Ateneo is shooting for dominance. UE is shooting for redemption. Either way, the race will end bitterly for one team (heh, sorry can't resist).

Now people have been drawing parallels between now and what happened to 2006. Like the third seed UST beating Ateneo in overtime in Game 3, after blowing them out in Game 2, and suffering a heartbreaker thanks to Ford "Guess where am I now" Arao.

But there is one significant difference: UST then had Jervy Cruz. This year, UE has no player a la Jervy Cruz, and Ateneo has one, and is probably (over-)hyped better. Another difference is that UST beat Ateneo in the elimination round, in 2006 the Tigers outlasted Ateneo in overtime, after the Eagles gang raped the Tigers in the first round. But then again, the results of the elimination round are reduced to mere stats once the playoffs rolls along.

Now since everybody is now an armchair coach at this time, and with the likes of TJ Manotoc telling us what coach Norman Black has to do, instead of doing the usual on what both teams should do, here are the top ten things us fans have to watch out for, which practically evolves into what the two teams should do anyway:

10. UE's interior defense
UE has a underrated interior defense, and deservingly so. Ateneo's bigs have been pounding the paint since the series started; Rabeh al-Hussaini has top scored Ateneo for the first two games.

9. Ateneo's perimeter defense
Unlike, UE's interior defense, Black has more weapons at his disposal to guard UE's shooting from beyond the arc. Kirk Long and Ryan Buenafe can guard any UE guard man-t0-man and the Warriors will be swallowed alive, but what keeps Ateneo from a complete perimeter lockdown is that they fail to close out once they double in the inside. Which brings me to...

8. UE's slashing offense
Paul Lee and Pari Llagas can penetrate a la Hayden Kho all day. It doesn't matter if Rabeh and Baclao have a field day blocking those shots; they'll continue it no matter what happens. Now instead of allowing penetrations, Ateneo just might have to try out the zone, especially if UE can't shoot the lights out from the perimeter. Or they can deny the ball from the slashers.

7. Paul Lee vs. Eric Salamat showdown
For some reason, these two guys always come off the bench, so the middle of the first quarter will be the turning point for these two teams. If the two players come out with guns a blazing, the next chip falls to...

6. The supporting cast
Val Acuna has been the X-factor in the playoffs. He scores plenty in the first half and fades away in the second half to let the Warriors big-time players take control. If UE's supporting cast fails to deliver on their first appearance on court, UE's main men will lose steam and Ateneo can take advantage.

5. Elmer Espiritu's priorities
Elmer Espiritu is one of the top shot blockers of the league, but if he devotes all of his energy to defense, he might ran out of gas for offense (compare Games 1 and 2). If Espiritu can pace himself in the game, UE has a big chance of winning the crown.

4. UE's passing game
Coach Lawrence Chongson's coaching philosophy is the motion offense. Yes folks, he has a philosophy, and thar philosophy is good enough for a third seed, a semifinals win, and at least 1 win in the Finals. The thing is the Warriors might tire themselves out in such a system, and especially if Ateneo starts running the break from their misses, they'll lose energy by the time the pep squads perform.

3. The Jai-namite
It's Nobel Prize season, and what better way to celebrate by christening Jai Reyes as "Jai-namite." Heck, it's better than Badjie "Ako ang Tunay na King Eagle" del Rosario. Hell and high water (literally) seems nothing to this young daddy, and his clutch shooting will be pivotal if the game is close. If he converts those jumpers, it'll be like 2005 JV Casio all over again.

2. Tiff Atendido's hair
UE's performance is directly proportional to the amount of hair Tiff lets out. So if you want UE to win, pray the her hairdresser makes an afro out of her hair.

1. The Boom and TJ Show
These two guys have been commentating the first two games of the series, with Game 3 almost certain that the panel will be these two people again. And while TJ may have the technical know-how in basketball, and may perhaps get the point straight, Boom has been a tough nut to crack. And by tough nut I mean tough "Even diamonds can break this nut's shell" nut. Or "I wanna kick him in the nuts if only me or my TV is trashed"

Ateneo vs. UST: One big bulldozing win?

We begin with the #1 vs. #4 matchup in this year's UAAP Final Four: the defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles and UST Growling Tigers. I was tempted to say "2006 champions" but seriously, it doesn't matter now.

Unless you ask Dylan Ababou.
In the two games played between the two teams, Ateneo won both by double-digits 93-77 and 80-70. In the first round, both teams faced off undefeated with the teams sporting 2-0 records. Ateneo gave UST their first loss, with Monfort having the game-high 20 points, with Maliksi scoring the same in a losing effort. Al-Hussaini had a "bad" game, scoring 13 points and only grabbing 4 boards. Salamat came off the bench with 5 dimes, and that spelled the difference and his playmaking off-the-bench sustained the Ateneo run deep in the second quarter. Although UST scored 10 treys, the no Tiger broke the .500 2-pt. FG percentage except Fortuna who went 1/2 (he also had 4 TOs). The Tigers had an awful time inside the paint and the Eagles had 28 rebounds off those UST misses, although UST did have 18 second-chance points.

In the second game, the Tigers approved somewhat, with four players above .500 in the 2-point area. But just like in the second game, the Eagles sustained their attack, with a shoo-in 6th man of the year, if such award existed in the UAAP, Eric Salamat scoring 7 points and dishing four assists, and Kirk Long top-scoring with 21 points, with a torrid 5/6 from three-point land. The game had 10 deadlocks but the Tigers weren't able to lead and eventually ran out of gas.

So what should UST do to barge into the Finals? First, they should establish an inside presence. But with behemoths Al-Hussaini and Nonoy Baclao at the post, the Tigers bigs must devise a way to penetrate their way towards the hoop. Putting these two guys in foul trouble may help.

What makes Ateneo awesome is that they have an inside-outside game. When their bigs fail to make an impact, their endless supply of guards plays a big game outta nowhere. This is where UST's perimeter defense steps in -- guard the three-point line. It seems that it may be a better idea to let the bigs have a field day down low. But then again if the guards have a bad shooting night, it may be a better idea to gang up the Ateneo's bigs.

Another way of minimizing Ateneo's strengths is by having a back-up at the backcourt; make sure two guards sprint down in defense when Eric Salamat starts running the transition. You may have reduce the rebounding numbers but in this case, with Baclao and Al-Hussaini in town, you might as well surrender that.

For Ateneo, their defensive strategy is simplified: shut down UST's shooting. If they do that, life will be easier as they can run the break and score easy points. Shut down the paint and make Ababou bleed for their points. Pressure UST's guards and make them commit turnovers. Do that and they're in the Finals. Sustain the offense and let the Tigers tire themselves out and bring out the finishing kick; the Tigers have a short bench and if the game is within reach for the Tigers they'll lose gas.

Even when they don't have the twice-to-beat advantage, Ateneo is the favorite, but if the breaks go their way, and they pace themselves well, the Tigers have a fighting chance to extend the series to a second game.

The homestretch

So it's the homestretch of the UAAP tournament and the key games are upon us. Here are the lowdown on these big games prior to the playoffs. The first "key" game will be Sunday's Adamson vs. Ateneo game. Ateneo playing for the first twice to beat advantage berth, while Adamson plays for dear life.

September 3 at Araneta -- UE vs. UP. For UP, this will be all or nothing since if they lose here, they're kaput, no matter what happens to the latter game this day.

September 3 at Araneta -- UST vs. La Salle. This will be a virtual elimination game for La Salle, if UST wins as expected against NU. Expect the Gang Green to come to full force on a Thursday. If UST does win both games, not only La Salle will be eliminated, but also Adamson and UP. Hence the hopes of four teams hinge on this game.

September 5 at the Arena -- La Salle vs. FEU. Assuming La Salle does fend off UST, FEU will have something more important to accomplish, with a win clinching their twice to beat advantage berth in the semifinals. A win by La Salle keeps them in the hunt, assuming they've won over the Tigers two days earlier.

September 10 at Araneta -- La Salle vs. NU. Now let's assume that La Salle wins both games against UST and FEU, this game will be crucial for the Green and White, for a win might clinch them a fourth-seed playoff against UST.

September 10 at Araneta -- UST vs. UE. If as expected Ateneo and FEU clinch the two twice to advantage berths. this will be a matter of placing; pick your poison as I say. These will also be the last game of the elimination round for these two teams, and there is still a possiblity for UST to tie UE when they'll play this game, so it can also be considered as a virtual third-seed playoff. Or for UST's case, if they lose two prior to this game, this will be a virtual "avoid a fourth-seed playoff" game. If they lose, they'll might play a playoff against La Salle. Which isn't particularly rosy considering if they'd play such a playoff, that means La Salle has a 2-0 edge against them in the eliminations.

September 12 at Araneta -- FEU vs. Ateneo. Assuming both teams win all of their games, and with the twice-to-beat advantage for both teams intact, this will be for "placing," with Ateneo playing for the #1 seed, and FEU playing for a playoff for #1, assuming we'd see one this season.

So those are your key remaining games this UAAP season. Enjoy, watch, cheer, bash, kick a la Joshua Webb, do anything. Win. At all costs.

UAAP Season 72, final 1st round standings

(Note: "Racing Stripes" is this space's UAAP column designed to have a slant, but not necessarily bias, towards that school in España. --Howard the Duck)

Here are the (hopefully*) final UAAP Season 72 first round standings, with all of the ties sorted out.

Team      W  L   PCT   GB  Tiebreaker
Ateneo    6  1  .833   --  1-0 vs. FEU
FEU       6  1  .833   --  0-1 vs. Ateneo
UE        4  3  .571  2.0  +15
UST       4  3  .571  2.0  −5
La Salle  4  3  .571  2.0  −10
NU        2  5  .167  4.0
Adamson   1  6  .143  5.0  1-0 vs. UP
UP        1  6  .143  5.0  0-1 vs. Adamson

After the jump: games that were used to break ties.
Games that were used to break the ties:
Ateneo def. FEU 63–59

UE def. La Salle 65–46
La Salle def. UST 101–92 in 2OTs
UST def. UE 92–88

Adamson def. UP 72–68

*Protested and forfeited games notwithstanding.

Undefeated

(Note: "Racing Stripes" is this space's UAAP column designed to have a slant, but not necessarily bias, towards that school in España. --Howard the Duck)

UST and Ateneo are the only teams left with 2–0 records. Later, that will be down to one, with the two facing off. But pundits have placed UST as the underdog, with good reason. So how can the Tigers win?

1.) Shoot from the outside. If it hits, it'll spread ADMU's defense, and we can be able to pound inside w/c can hasten Rabeh's departure c/o fouls.

2.) Grab rebounds like hell. Don't give ADMU a 2nd try. Rabeh's very adapt to this, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring on a put-back. Be wary of that and box out. Grab a defensive board, lead a fastbreak, and score easily.

3.) Camp at the shaded lane. But leave one guy to patrol the perimeter. It's like Jimmy Manansala days where the four guys zone while he harasses the ball-handler. Yeah, funny I even went to that era since we're basically in that mode right now.

4.) When you stop Rabeh, Ateneo will turn to their outside shooting, so that's the time UST MUST switch to man-to-man to prevent such sniping. Timely switching between zone and man-to-man might wreck havoc on the Ateneo offense and might lead into turnovers.

5.) Hit free throws and avoid turnovers. Free throws are the only time the defense is not in their faces so they better shoot it. As for turnovers, be sure the ball handler is not the one being harassed like hell.

Racing Stripes: Fortune cookie

(Note: "Racing Stripes" is this space's UAAP column designed to have a slant, but not necessarily bias, towards that school in España. --Howard the Duck)

Pundits had said that the opening game of UAAP Season 72, the first program in high-definition in the country, would be a battle for fifth; the Falcons had been building up steadily but it'll take a minor miracle for them to reach the top four, and the Tigers don't have enough ceiling to contend.

Heck, who needs ceiling when you have guys like Chris Camus who'll block a ball at the apex, and refs calls it as a goal tend. And you though only ice hockey had goaltenders.

Then we have Khasim Mirza, with no more Jervy Cruz to consider passing the ball to the post, coach Pido must've taught him some old school tips and tricks during the summer, since UST will need all the points Mirza can muster.

And Clark Bautista, who has emerged as the reliable combo guard. Old reliable and former RP youth standout Dylan Ababou will now man the paint and it won't be easy.

But as a point guard, ball handling shouldn't be difficult, since you are the point guard -- the one distributing the points.

Something coach Pido should've spent time last summer on since apparently, Jeric Fortuna can't handle balls like an anorexic girl handles cookies in the cookie jar.

The game was full of excitement, turnovers here and there, and Fortuna would've almost won the game. For Adamson. Good thing that trey rattled in and out three-fourths of the day down.

That's how the cookie crumbles in the UAAP. A matter of inches is all the separates victory from defeat.

Chalk this up one for UST. Meanwhile, coach Pido will unleash his inner Coach Ansai and will drill Fortuna with the basic ball handling skills till the next game. Good luck on that, coach.

As for the second game, it was quite surprising that a different La Salle team appeared. Being the second program in HD, we'd expect something worth remembering. What we remembered is Boom Gonzalez correct himself every other possession. Like can you blame the stats guy?

UAAP on ABS-CBN HD. Because we want to hear Boom Gonzalez correct himself endlessly. Those who purchased those HDTV boxes must had been scratching their heads in dismay. They'd rather listen to Magic 89.9's 9:00 am weekday show if we'd have to endure that play-calling. Or Max FM's morning show for those in the other league.

Racing Stripes: The path ahead for the Tigers

(Note: "Racing Stripes" is this space's UAAP column designed to have a slant, but not necessarily bias, towards that school in España. --Howard the Duck)

So first I gotta explain why the hell I chose "Racing Stripes". The phrase "racing stripes" came from American racing cars back in the day -- before the nasty ads on the cars, they were colored according to their countries. Only Ferrari maintains the fiery Italian red, and former team Jaguar had the British Racing Green. American cars usually had different colors but they were distinctive with one or two stripes right in the middle of the car.

Then Hayden Panetierre had that film where she's a jockey, riding a zebra. Since I'm a Hayden fanboy, I lifted that film's name -- "Racing Stripes" well since Tigers have stripes too.

Ever played GTA? Fast cars had a stripe on top. Striped cars = fast. And that's how coach Pido wants for the 2009 Tigers team: really fast up-tempo play. At least that's what he said on FHM.

So first here's are lineup for Season 72, from our friends at Inboundpass.com:
ABABOU, Dylan - SF/PF
AFUANG, Carmelo - PF/C
AYTONA, Eduard - PG
BAUTISTA, Clark - SG/PG
CAM, Marco - SF/PF
CAMUS, Chris - PF/C
FELIX, Andrew - PG
FORTUNA, Jeric - PG
GREEN, Darrel - PF/C
HADI, Rushdy - SG/SF
MALIKSI, Allen - PG/SG
MARIANO, Aljon - SF/PF
MARQUEZ, AC - SG/SF
MIRZA, Khasim - SF
TENG, Jeric - SG
UNGRIA, Aljohn - SG

So wait, is this Andrew Felix guy related to Andrei "Drei Ball" Felix of NCAA coverage, 103.5 Max FM and MYX "fame"?

And Darrel Green is the former Letran Squire who won Rookie of the Year and Mythical Five honors in 2005, disappeared thereafter, and never returned to Intramuros. Was it due to bad academics? Did he not know who Mark Twain is? Note that this guy is big -- not Sam Ekwe big, but African-American big nonetheless.

And yes, my boy Jeric Fortuna. We sure do need ballhandlers, and we snagged one from Alabang. Because that kid from Greenhills went to Taft. Hah.

This might be former RP youth mainstay Dylan Ababou's last year playing for USTe. The team must give him a proper send-off befitting a senior. They screwed up last year on Jervy so they better make it right this time. But what do Tigers fans really expect from the team? After barely missing the Final Four last year, are we on the beginning stages of a rebuilding mode? Do FEU, Ateneo, La Salle, UE and Adamson have better chances (in that order) in cracking the top four slots?

Is all well in España?

(More on the lineup on Wednesday. Stay tuned.)

Colored stripes

Starting this college basketball season, since I won't be able to give play-by-play updates at least early in the season, we'd instead have weekly columns on the latest happenings on the UAAP and the NCAA: "Racing Stripes" for the UAAP and "True Colors" for the NCAA. Since we have Atenean, Lasallian and Diliman-centric columns already. Or whatever.

The columns go out every Saturday. Because college hoops season has begun.