UAAP: Veterans vs Rookies

The first week of the UAAP is done. After a rainy, yet impressive opening ceremonies (that needed better camera angles), a week of the season is finally completed. The rains were not able to dampen the fireworks of week 1 though. Just a quick recap!

1. FEU starts off the season with a big win over DLSU.

2. AdMU holds AdU scoreless in the last 7 minutes.

3. Kobe Bryant plays with a UAAP selection in an FEU jersey.

4. UST and NU go on a shootout in the 4th quarter and overtime.

5. UP wins!

6. AdU bounces back to beat FEU soundly by 19.

7. Ateneo - La Salle Round 1 & Kiefer Ravena

8. Ray Parks goes for 30.

9. UE goes nuts in a blitz but falls short.

Photo courtesy of getblued.multiply.com

Now, most of the headlines so far are pointed to how this year's rookie class is seemingly stating their claim that the future is already here. The hype train for these talents isn't slowing down, and it leaves me wondering: Is the UAAP still owned by the veterans of the rooks?

So here's what I am going to do. I will keep tally of the Best Players of Each Game until the end of the season. Maybe then, we can decide if the torch has already been passed or experience still rules out:

FEU v DLSU: Aldrech Ramos (16 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls, 1 blk) - Vets
AdMU v AdU: Greg Slaughter (23 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks) - Rooks

UST v NU: Jeric Fortuna (23 pts, 3 3fgm, 6 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl) - Vets

UP v UE: Mike Gamboa (19 pts, 4 3fg, 5 rebs, 6 asts, 2 stls) - Vets

AdU v FEU: Alex Nuyles (22 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts) - Vets

AdMU v DLSU: Kiefer Ravena (24 pts, 10 rebs, 2 asts, 5 stls) - Rooks

NU v UP: Ray Parks (30 pts, 3 3fg, 9 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls) - Rooks

UST v UE: Kevin Ferrer (19 pts, 3 3fg, 5 rebs, 1 stl) - Rooks

Veterans: 4

Rookies: 4

Let's see how the rest of the season goes!

UAAP Finals Preview: FEU Tamaraws vs. Ateneo Blue Eagles

UAAP Finals Preview: FEU Tamaraws vs. Ateneo Blue Eagles

Game 1 of the UAAP Finals will be held on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010 in the Araneta Coliseum. As usual, there will be around 20,000 people watching live. Timeouts and halftimes will take longer and definitely, there will be more commercials since it will be televised on ABS-CBN channel 2 for the first time. A lot of things have changed, but not by much really.

For the first time in three years, the Ateneo Blue Eagles will be considered as underdogs (though not by much) in the Finals against a deep and supposedly ripe FEU Tamaraws team. Ateneo has lost the pillars of its two championship runs with Nonoy Baclao and Rabeh Al-Hussaini graduating to the pros, while FEU on the other hand, has practically lost no one and even added perimeter hotshots Terrence Romeo and UAAP MVP RR Garcia. With so much changing in a one-sided manner, you would think that it is definitely time for a new champion to be crowned. But there is still much to be said...

The UAAP Finals is actually a nicely matched-up series if you think about it.
Garcia vs Salamat
Romeo vs Monfort
Cawaling vs Buenafe
Cervantes vs Salva
Sanga vs Long
Ramos vs Chua
Bringas vs Golla
Nuondou vs Escueta

That's already 8 match-ups deep and we still can't say there's one side who has a distinct advantage over the other. Sure, the awards are pretty one-sided. Garcia is MVP and a Mythical 5 member. Ramos is Defensive Player of the Year and a Mythical 5 member. Romeo is Rookie of the Year. Ateneo will be getting no individual accolades this year. But if we look deeper into the statistics* more of their players are performing at a Top 20 rate. FEU has Garcia at #1, Ramos #3, Cervantes #6. Ateneo on the other hand has Salamat at #7, Salva & Long tied at #12 and Buenafe & Chua tied at #14. So, even the numbers are agreeing that it really is an evenly matched series.

(*based on statistics as of the end of the 2nd round of eliminations)

So what can we expect from this Finals series?

Ateneo will once again gear it's defense towards stopping RR Garcia. Following the strategy employed by many teams against Steve Nash - cut the head of the snake to stop it. Then, they shall hope that trigger happy Tams Cervantes and Romeo will shoot themselves in the foot by forcing up shots against a tough Ateneo defense. FEU, on the other hand, will try to grind Ateneo's transition game to halt and cover all screen-and-rolls of the fluid Eagle offense.

On offense, FEU will still look for RR Garcia and now Romeo to create havoc by playmaking and opening shots for Ramos, Sanga and the rest of the Tamaraw supporting cast. Ateneo will continue to use their defense as their best offensive weapon by creating transition opportunities and scrambles by the FEU defense. Hopefully then, Monfort, Long and Salamat can put in the long ball to open up their inside offense.

So if I were to bet, who would I put my money on?

Being slightly biased but mostly objective, I would still give it to the Eagles in 3. Comparing the Final Four games of each squad, FEU let La Salle hang around too long and put themselves in such a risky spot. Ateneo choked the life out of Adamson early and clearly stated claim that the road to the title would have to go through The Hill in Katipunan. Clearly, the playoff experience and poise of the Eagles stood out against the Falcons. Against a tougher FEU squad, surely the battle will be closer. But, powered by either Buenafe or Salamat as Finals MVP, I would still give it to Ateneo in 3 for the 3-peat.

(Thanks again to Aaron Vicencio for the pics)

UAAP Final Four Prediction: (2) Ateneo Blue Eagles vs (3) Adamson Soaring Falcons

(2) Ateneo Blue Eagles vs (3) Adamson Soaring Falcons

First off, thanks to Mr. Aaron Vicencio (aaronvicencio.blogspot.com) for the great picture.

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A couple of years ago, the ABS-CBN coverage of the UAAP flashed a pretty interesting graphic. Adamson had not won against Ateneo for 15 years or so already. The last time they had won, Fidel Ramos was president, Gas was P9/Liter and it was P26: $1. Basically, ever since Ateneo got out of its dark ages, Adamson has fallen to the bigger bird.

Adamson has come so close so many times, it has already become heartbreaking.

In 2004, Adamson lost all their nerve, blew a huge lead and succumbed to an Ateneo team riding an emotional wave due to the loss of then captain Larry Fonacier to an ACL injury. LA Tenorio shot the Falcons down with three after three after three.

Back in 2006, UAAP MVP Ken Bono and his crew have literally come within single shots of breaking Ateneo spell over them in the 3 games they faced off. But some how, Ateneo always found a three to save them. Chris Tiu sank a 3 in each elimination game and played decoy to a JC Intal drive in the Final Four to send the Falcons crashing down again.

In the second round of this year's eliminations, Eman Monfort once again shot the Falcons down with a booming 3 late in the game to save the streak and give the Blue Eagles the twice-to-beat advantage.

Somehow, there has always been a game-saving 3 that Ateneo has been able to carve out and extend the Falcon misery. Perhaps, the same story might take place again. But looking at it game plan-wise, the game will be decided by the tandems in the photo above.

The Eagle tandem of Salamat and Salva will have to outplay the Falcons' Alvarez and Camson and vice versa. In the two elimination round games this year, Salva has owned Camson and Alvarez has done likewise to Salamat, but an aggregate of their production has always leaned towards the Eagles. This is indeed the crucial match up to watch as everything else is practically equal. Alex Nuyles will be checked by Kirk Long and Long will basically burn himself just playing defense. Justin Chua and Jan Colina will similarly cancel each other out, and so will each squad's benches.

Salamat and Alvarez are each team's playmakers and a lot is decided by not only their scoring but the situations they create. Lester Alvarez has been going off against Ateneo this year, even scoring 25 in the 2nd round match. Salamat on the other hand has been initiating the Eagles' defense with his ball pressure and timely steals to key the Ateneo running game. Each of these two are expected to perform, and there is almost no doubt that they will.

This is why the producton of their mercurial forward counterparts is equally important. Eric Camson and Nico Salva have been on and off this season, so it is almost decisive when one of them shows up and the other doesn't. This can be most clearly seen in their 2nd round match where Salva get back on track after going into a funk midseason, and Camson, saddled with fouls, did not produce his expected double figures.

Salamat can score less than Alvarez, but that is because Ateneo puts almost a 60/40 split on the load between Salamat and Salva. Adamson on the other hand burdens the Alvarez-Camson combo with a 65/35 split. With this close a match-up though, it is clear that whichever 1-2 combination hits harder will decide if we have another Final Four match or the Finals start already.

This is Adamson's best shot of breaking their losing skid against Ateneo. Should the streak extend, Adamson will have a more difficult time in the coming seasons as Ateneo will surely reload due to their recruitment and Ryan Buenafe will take over..

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The FEU Tamaraws slipped passed the DLSU Green Archers earlier to a score of 69-59. I almost got the spread right if not only for the last basket shot by Exciminiano... I could start a rumor here, but I choose to just let that simmer in your minds.

Surprisingly, DLSU was very much in it and almost won in regulation. But, as expected, FEU's maturity and poise shone through with Sanga's game-tying 3 and The team's overall steadiness in the overtime. It important to note that ROY Terrence Romeo has been playing great recently. He's been hitting big shots to supplement the perimeter with teams locking down on MVP RR Garcia.

UAAP Final Four Prediction: (1) FEU vs (4) DLSU

(1) FEU Tamaraws vs (4) DLSU Green Archers




The Final Four cast of the UAAP is already set. While a lot of things may still happen and seedings could still switch, I'm pretty confident that things will stay the way they are. So here are my predictions for the UAAP Semifinals.
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The DLSU Green Archers were able to pull off a shocker by beating the favored FEU Tamaraws a couple of weeks ago during their second round encounter during the eliminations. That victory was their penultimate win to ensuring themselves a trip to the Final Four this year.

Unfortunately for them, that might be the same win that settles their ouster from championship contention this year.

The Archers technically still have a shot at getting a twice-to-beat incentive during the semis, but it assumes a lot of things. Ateneo and Adamson have to lose their remaining games and has to La Salle win both of it assignments to get the incentive because of the blowout they received at the hands of the Eagles as well. So, if you were on the Archers coaching staff, you should already be thinking about FEU... thinking very hard about how to pull off 2 more shockers.

La Salle may have sealed their own fates with their win over the Tams because of one thing - FEU is a very seasoned and veteran team. Simply put, the Tamaraws should win the title this year or the team should be blown up, and their mindset is that not unexpected losses should happen twice, moreso thrice. Glen Capacio, Bert Flores and the rest of the FEU brainthrust will be looking at every second of their loss to La Salle and break it down. They will not let a bunch of careless or overconfident mistakes cost them the championship, or worse, lose again in the semis. The Tamaraws will prepare and watch so much La Salle game tape that nothing should surprise them come the Final Four.

That is where the Archers did themselves in.

La Salle, putting it simply, has a punchers chance in the match. If they are able to hit hard first and force the Tams to play catch up for the whole game, they may have a greater chance to pull off two upsets. Who knows, just by leading the whole way, they might expose FEU's supposed weak endgame. But, with all the heavy preparation of the coaches and the revenge factor of the players' psyches, they won't be caught off-guard by any new DLSU trick. The Tams will prepare for the full-court trap, for the screens for the Archer shooters and play a tougher game than they did last time out. Basically, FEU will try to bully La Salle into submission.

Unlike the Tams who have RR Garcia, no one on the Archers can really strap the entire team on their back and carry them to the end. Atkins, who leads them in scoring with over 9 points a game, will not attract enough attention from the FEU defense to be able to create for his teammates. Once the vaunted La Salle machine expereinces a hiccup, you may as well say sayonara to their championship chances.

Now, I am not saying that DLSU can't do it. I'm just sure that there chances are definitely slimmer because of that win. So, they better strike first blood or else go through a very tough uphill climb.

FEU by 8 in one game.

Milo Warrior 3-on-3 Championship

The team over at patayangbutiki brought this tournament to my attention with their blog post linked. This is in connection with the Chris Tiu-Jayvee Casio ads we've been seeing all over tri-media recently. I first got some inclination of this when I played over at the Ateneo College Covered Courts over the weekend, and it seems that there was voting done to pick the teams for each school. Voting is now done, and they're all playing at the Blue Eagle Gym in Ateneo on Dec. 1 @ 1 PM.



The teams are pretty interesting as their's a healthy mix of team B players for some exposure. Also, the imports from Africa are now being revealed to the public with NU and UP parading them in the tournament. The only exception being FEU, which nominated a line-up of Team A players + the UAAP juniors MVP, and will send a Cervantes-Sanga-Garcia combination.

The first thing you'll notice is that Milo has chosen to hold the tournament for UAAP Schools only. Since we all know this is a marketing tool, this might be just a target market deal kicking in. Not to be derogatory, they're probably targeting the A, B and C economic brackets, that's why they chose not to include the NCAA schools. Of course, I could be very wrong and this might just be a matter of convenience or sanctioning by the league.

Second, La Salle is the only UAAP school not participating. Why? We can conjure up a number of reasons why, but I'd rather not (to avoid sounding like a hater). I just think this is an unfortunate event that they didn't chose to participate simply because of the experience and exposure it could have provided to their young players. 3-on-3 is very, very different from a UAAP game, but just familiarizing themselves with possible UAAP opponents (like the FEU boys), could have been a direct benefit from the tournament. Also, what makes this more sad is that Jvee Casio is the co-endorser of the product along with Chris Tiu. The tourney snub from your alma mater would kind of hurt if I were him.

Well, there goes half of Milo's target market...

Bits on the Bantay Bata All-Star Game

Just a couple of notes on this year's UAAP vs NCAA Bantay Bata All-Star Games:

> The NCAA, as the commentators kept on reitarating, outworked the UAAP. Why? Simply put, the 2 people who most dictated the UAAP's games with their effort throughout the game weren't in the line-ups - Nonoy Baclao and Elmer Espiritu. More than the 5 or 6 blocks lost, the deflections, intimidated shots and just overall consciousness allowed the NCAA boys to feel confident around the rim. These 2 are bad, bad men around the rim and "Bad Boy" John Wilson and Jimbo Aquino better thank the gods they had Patriot duty.

> Kish Co was not an all-star!!!

> At first I thought that DLSU gave the whole Bantay Bata games a snub, I read in the papers that they were trying to qualify for the PCC in a zonals competition. Good job, La Salle. At least, we know now that there was no politicking involved here.

> The Smart Gilas Boys were holding back. You could see it in the way they were playing that they were protecting themselves from any injuries, so they were very sloppy. Also, I think Norman Black never fielded all 5 of them (Ramos, Ababou, Cawaling, Al-Hussaini, Buenafe) together. They're forgiven in my book.

> The San Sebastian Staglets combo of Salamat, Lee and Buenafe didn't do much actually. Naturally, everybody's bigger so they can't run people to the ground anymore. Kind of sad how they're recruitment suddenly died down. (Sorry, Delgado isn't a legit college prospect.)

> As usual, the match up was the UAAP's execution and the NCAA's run and gun. With the turnovers (and overall lax approach to the game), the UAAP's 20+ turnovers did them in.

UAAP All-Star Anomaly

Thanks, to Mr. Rick Olivares for providing the information in the link found below:
UAAP Line-up to the Bantay Bata All-Star Game

You, sir, are a great writer. So much passion for sports in general.

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If you read through the UAAP line-up 2 things will probably pop up at you:

1. Where are Nonoy Baclao, Elmer Espiritu, Val Acuna and Khasim Mirza?

> Simple answer is they will be on duty with the Philippine Patriots of the ABL. Games are played on weekends, and if I'm not mistaken, they will be in Kuala Lumpur to take on Rudy Lingganay, Tats Bandaying and Roel Hugnatan.

2. With all due respect to the guy, but...

What the crap is KISH CO doing on the All-Star Team???

The team has 4 Gilas boys and the top gun of all 7 other UAAP teams, and DLSU fields Kish Co?!? I know this might sound like I'm being a La Salle hater but where are the RP Youth Boys Bringas and Marata, PBL Draftee Bagatsing, Joshua Webb. C'mon... It only seems that there can be 2 things concluded from this - a) La Salle has completely lost all understanding of basketball thinking that CO is their star player or b) There's some scheme brewing in their camp not to send their building blocks for the future. Why would they do that? The hell should I know..

As a very big advocate of the fact that basketball is formative (both to the audience and the players), I really think that this move is a slap in the face of the kids that will benefit from the game. It's a charity exhibition game, yet they choose not to send players who will draw more onlookers and thus generate a bigger charitable contribution. I don't know, but that's just wrong... It sends the message that "we choose to keep our interests first instead of the growing needs of our nation." Selfish much?

Seriously, man. Kish Co, an all-star???

Pido Goes to the 'Dogs

I was able to read in the Business Mirror today that Pido Jarencio is moving from the head coach spot of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to the National University Bulldogs. He replaces Manny Dandan who has been there for the greater majority of ten years (Rico Perez coached for a year) and was able to lead NU to it's only appearance in the Final Four in 2002. He did this with the leadership of Alfie Grijaldo, Jeff Napa and Froilan Baguion.

This move comes as a shock to me, personally, after Coach Pido led his 2006 Cinderella UST team to the UAAP Championship during his rookie year. He was such a proud Goldie/Tiger back in his playing days when he was trading threes with Allan Caidic of UE. He brought that fiery approach to the PBA and had his best days with the Ginebra franchise. As a coach, he still carried that swagger, preaching his three P's of Pride, Puso and Palaban to his Tiger teams. There has been so much history with Jarencio and UST that it would just seem wrong not to see him in the black, gold, black, white, especially with 400 years of UST coming up. (Perhaps the only UST coach more deserving of that honor would be Aric Del Rosario, but he can't coach anymore because of his ailing heart.)

This leads us to two questions - 1) Did UST give up on Pido after falling short these last three years? 2) Were there greater forces that convinced him to move to NU? Let's go deeper...

1) It seems so sad that the school would give up so fast on a man who has rendered has service to the school with such passion and loyalty. Pido took the job in 2006 and won the title. He made the postseason all but one year, and made Jervy Cruz and Dylan Ababou into MVP's. Not pretty bad considering he also boasts of so many classic performances as a player. Not to mention, the gamut of emotion he displays in game is such pure entertainment and candidness. Could it be that some disgruntled alumni supporters are the ones actually calling for his ouster?

2) On the flip side of things, could it be that NU, boosted with the budget for the Sy's of SM have been able to buy some space into the coach's future? Players in the UAAP are tough to recruit, and these days, schools can't win without the budget to bring in some key players and provide for the "athletic and academic" needs. Maybe the coach thinks that he can build a winner with the support system he now has...

Of course, these are just things I ask. Who knows if they're real or not... This also then leaves the question, who's coaching UST? Ariel Vanguardia and Louie Alas are free agents...

PCC Struggling for Validation

The Philippine Collegiate Championship is now in its sixth year, and it is a much improved version than what started back then with the Collegiate Champions League. Previously, during the CCL days, it was basically Metro Manila schools and a couple of guest teams from Visayas and Mindanao. Now, it has grown to a much more credible tournament with schools winning to get in. The seeded Final Four teams from the UAAP and NCAA won in their respective leagues in one way or another, and champions of the "secondary" league also get a slot. Those who do not fall into this category have to qualify via the Zonals days before the actual March Madness style tournament. So, teams don't just get in because they're a big name school.

Although the format has made the tournament design to be more competitive, the results tend to prove otherwise. It is no surprise that a big school (specifically a UAAP) school has won the title all the years it has been held (UE & FEU twice, Ateneo & La Salle once). Naturally, recruitment muscle, superior grassroots programs and some would say better coaching all come to the forefront to show that the UAAP is still the best collegiate league in the country.

Aside from this lopsidedness of results though, it is validation that the PCC is struggling with. Schools and players do not provide it with the respect the organizers, including the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas, desire. Understandibly, this is part of the growing pains fo the league. To the schools, their collegiate championships mean more to them and have more tradition to substantiate the win. Think about it, 6 years as compared to 72 and 95 seasons for the UAAP and NCAA respectively. So, instead of featuring the best collegiate teams and players into the country, it is morphed into something resembling more of a "Pre-season" tournament for 2010 rather than a post-season tournament of the highest stature. Schools field next year's line-ups, elevate some team B players, lose star players to the PBL, PBA or ABL and even some head coaches to commentary. Not a nice way to draw credibility as a tournament and fans if you ask me...

Now, naturally, the bigger leagues are being stiff since they have the "most to lose" due to these extra games. Injury does not pick tournaments after all. There is also the lame excuse that students should be "focusing more on their studies." C'mon. You can't expect us to believe that. Unfortunately, we can't blame them. These bodies do have heaploads to lose and no monetary prizes (yes, there are folks) can compensate for the risks underlying another league.

What the SBP should do though is provide some other form of incentive to the schools and the players. The right to compete in Serbia in behalf of the Philippines that DLSU won last yearcan be a sweet prize just as long as some training budget comes along with it. So, what I would suggest is that they scrap the outirhgt cash and instead reform it into "training budget." All schools need the expense relief anyway. Also, another suggestion I'd have is to officially name the winning school as the "National Champion" or "Philippine Champion" instead of "PCC Champion" (yes, it's redundant, I know.). There's just more substance to it, not to mention it estblishes a tradition worth keeping.

Bottom line, the PCC is experiencing growing pains, and hopefully, the leaders can get the mother leagues and teams on the train as it has the best potential as of the moment to follow in the footsteps of March Madness. On our end, maybe we can support the league more - watch some games, discuss on online forums, watch on tv even. Just helping create a buzz for it could accelarate the pace for Philippine basketball development in general. Let's go, one country!

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On a side note, the Ateneo Blue Eagles won the Unigames Basketball Championship over the sem break. Congrats to the Blue Eagles! They did it without Jai Reyes, Nonoy Baclao and Rabeh Al-Hussaini in the line-up...

The UAAP Invades the ABL

Last Sunday, the Philippine Patriots won 74 - 61 against the Thailand Tigers at the Ynares Center in Pasig City. As usual, the contributions of the Philippine locals brutally outmatched their Thai counterparts as the imports virtually cancelled each other out.

Perhaps, more important than the final score (which expected that the Patriots would win) was the debut of three of the UAAP's biggest stars in the Philippine Patriots' line-up. Nonoy Baclao (Ateneo), Elmer Espiritu (UE) and Val Acuna (UE) all debut as new additions to Louie Alas' line-up. I am not sure if this meant that Hafer Mondragon, Mark Andaya and Christian Coronel (who started last time) are off the team, but it definitely gives the team an upgrade defensively and more importantly, star power.

Louie Alas, as proven by his Letran teams year after year, is probably one of the toughest defensive coaches in the country. His teams come to battle every game are not afraid to carry scars from the fight. This is why we probably see that in the Patriots' wins, the defense has been great, whether it be in the half-court or full-court. Even in their loss, they poured it on with their full-court trap which put even Al Vergara fits. This is why I am not surprised that Alas jumped at getting the three UAAP gems. Baclao and Espiritu are known for their highlight stoppages of many who dare drive the lane, being awarded the last 2 seasons' Defensive Player of the Year respectively. Acuna, on the other hand, is an underrated defender with speed to handle guards and length to handle bigs. On the defensive end, these 3 contributed immediately and will be a great asset as the season comes along.

However, I think that more than their defense these people provide the Star Power that the Patriots so direly need. If you've seen the league, small venues are not even half-filled and this is because there are no stars so far, only imports who are fed the ball because of their athletic gifts. With Baclao, Espiritu Acuna and Khasim Mirza, the team now hopes to gain the following of other UAAP schools and other hoops followers, possibly even sponsors. Let's see if there's any difference in the team's next game on Sunday at the San Juan Arena.

In relation to this, I sure would hope that the ABL would coordinate with the PBA on their playing schedule. We are a basketball crazy country and we'd like to root for anything Philippine basketball-related as much as we could, but the ABL plays every Sunday at 4:00 PM, going head-on against the PBA's first game. I think that the ABL has to be realistic in that they cannot battle the PBA's popularity and star power, so I would wish that they just play on Saturdays when there is only 1 PBA game. TV ratings wouldn't have to cannibalize each other and gate sales as well.

Also, I think that the Patriots did not get very good imports. Powell, being straight-out of college is still very immature, not to mention playing out of position, and Dixon seems to be out of shape. I'm honestly glad that they are not completely dominant imports as the locals can contribute significantly, but they would be 3-0 if they got better imports.

Anyway, thats the buzzer for this entry...

Behind the Scenes: Fr. Martin's Cup II

Earlier today, the semifinals of the Fr. Martin's Cup II was held in the FEU Gym in Morayta. The league has been going on quietly for a while, under the radar with all the UAAP and NCAA hype that's gone on. For those unfamiliar, the Fr. Martin's Cup II features the Team B's of major colleges. Often you can see future Team A recruits serving out their residencies and familiarizing themselves with the school's systems... This year is no different.

The semis match-ups were FEU vs UP and Arellano vs Ateneo, and the finals will be some time next week.

Results:
FEU def. UP by 30+
Arellano def. Ateneo by 8

Some notes:
> FEU features another African, not mention great recruits from all over the country. They'll be loaded for the next couple of years, so they should be considered as the title favorites for next year (again).
> UP also featured its own African recruit as well as their prized Fil-foreigner recruit. Expect them to improve on this year's UAAP performance, assuming their players and their coaches get their act together. Something's not right in the land of State U.
> Following the "Sam Ekwe Trend," Arellano also had 2 African recruits - both raw and super athletic - hopeful for inclusion in next year's NCAA still. If they don't, I wonder how they could manage keeping the two.
> Ateneo (which does not have an African. hehe) played with the 2 players Norman Black mentioned to be in consideration for Team A - Escueta and Erram. For Blue Eagle fans, you have to hope that Norman Black can develop these boys alongside Salva, Chua, Burke and Golla because they aren't ready to resemble Baclao and Al-Hussaini's roles. You have to hope that Salamat and Buenafe can carry the team to the Three-peat.

Next week, the Unigames will be played in Iloilo. I'll try to get some info on what happens. But for now, you have to expect a UAAP or NCAA school will champion this meet. After all, everybody needs all the good press they can get in preparation for the PCC.

Tip Off

First entry time... So why 40 minutes of freedom?

For those non-basketball fans out there, 40 minutes is the regulation length of an amateur basketball game. If you've heard of FIBA rules, that's it!

So if you haven't figured out by now, this will be a basketball blog (most of the time). But I will post and link up anything that I feel is worth noticing. You might see some videos, some scouting reports, etc. I'll try to keep the rumors to a minimum though so that this would have some credibility. Hehe

Anyway, I'll probably skip the UAAP since it's done, and everybody's written about it already. If there's something I hear for the Philippine Collegiate Championships though, I'll drop something about the UAAP and NCAA schools without hesitation. Watch out for my PBA predictions and news while we're all waiting for the NBA to kick-of again. I'll also try to look into the ABL (ASEAN Basketball League) and give you a heads-up on what's going on there.

Now, time for tip-off!