UAAP 72 Champions: Ateneo Blue Eagles

The UAAP 72 Snr Men’s Basketball Season heads to the final match between Ateneo Blue Eagles and UE REd Warriors. Ateneo win Game 3 and are UAAP 72 Champions!

The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles finally achieved something, that they haven’t achieved about a generation back, during the years of Jai Reyes’ uncle who was part of the back-to-back championship batch of Ateneans dating back 1987-1988, coincidentally a year before the final four system was implemented to the UAAP.

This means, that the defending champions, Ateneo de Manila have literally destroyed the University of the East Red Warriors in their meeting last October 8, 2009 at the Araneta Coliseum, facilitating much pride and reasons to celebrate for Ateneans and Ateneo supporters all over the Philippines, and eventually around the world. The invincible quintet from Katipunan failed to accomplish something many people have sought for since last year prior their shortcoming against the Far Eastern University in their first round meeting in UAAP 71 when they collected their only defeat back then. The same sort of jinx happened this year, with the Blue Eagles coming short in the first part of the Battle of Katipunan against the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons by a ten point deficit, which was their only defeat in the season until Sunday, October 4, 2009.

The Blue Eagles who were predicted to be a much better team (by Head Coach Norman Black) seemed unstoppable, heading into the finals and doing first blood against the challengers UE Red Warriors. But right a game after they’ve silenced the Red Warriors and cut their 8 game winning streak, the UE quintet commenced payback time and left nothing but dust behind as they crushed the Blue Eagles by 20 big points in the second game of the UAAP 72 finals, tilting all the momentum to their side.

But it wasn’t enough, the Blue Eagles eventually learned from their mistakes from that particular game that they have lost against the University of the East, while a handful of Eagles may have learned their lesson from 2006 where they have been in an identical situation prior the start of this game, with a player out due to ACL from UST, and no La Salle in the final four, and having the series tied at a win by both teams (Ateneo striking first blood as well), AND most important to note was UST’s head coach who was in his rookie year too, just like Lawrence.

Eventually, the Blue Eagles have overcome the challenge and lived for another day! As they’ve literally exorcised the ghost that haunted them from the dark 2006 season when the championship was just a few touches away.

With that said, I would like to congratulate the whole Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles team, from the staff to the players for a job well done. It has been an awesome season, and Ateneo has proven very well that they can play even without Chris Tiu at their best, and eventually better than the TIU years. But the seasons ahead look dark and the future unpredictable. No more Al-Hussaini, Baclao and Reyes. Who will step up? The idea of a 3-peat is highly improbable at this point, but it is not impossible. There are still a lot of potential players for Ateneo awaiting for their time to shine, and UAAP 73 might just be the best time to do so.

Ateneo has now won back-to-back; not only in the Seniors Division but as well as in the Juniors Men’s Basketball Division as the Ateneo Blue Eaglets took on the De La Salle Junior Archers in their do-or-die match prior the Senior Game 3.

ONE BIG FIGHT!

The scores:

Ateneo 71 – Al Hussaini 21, Reyes 16, Buenafe 10, Baclao 8, Salamat 7, Long 7, Salva 2, Monfort 0, Austria 0.

UE 58 – Lee 21, Espiritu 16, Acuña 8, Lingganay 5, Zamar 3, Llagas 3, Flores 2, Reyes 0, Duran 0, Ayala 0.

Quarter scores: 21-17, 40-25, 57-41, 71-58.

AdMU Blue Eagles vs UE Red Warriors Game 3 UAAP Finals

The third game is knocking on the door, Ateneo stroke first by snatching game 1 away from the Red Warriors, but the Warriors fought back and took game 2 by a twenty point difference to force a rubber match with the defending champions to be held at the Big Dome this coming Thursday, October 8, 2009.

The defending champions didn’t look like champions anymore in the second game, as they’ve tasted the first beating at the hands of the Red Warriors since 6 prior appearances, including the spectacular close fight in the second round of UAAP 71 last year when Buenafe and Tiu stepped up big time from beyond the arc in the final minutes. Ateneo has clutch players, they have the shooters, they’ve got the skills and the potential, but none of the triples went into the hoop for the Blue Eagles, from Monfort, to Austria, Buenafe to Reyes, not even a single one stepped up in crunch time. It’s a vital arsenal to Ateneo, especially at times like these where they face a UE quintet that solemnly depends on their zone defense.

Let’s say, it was just not Ateneo’s day, but the shooting was so terrible that I find it hard to believe, that Monfort and co kept shooting from rainbow distance and hitting everything, but not the hole of the ring. UE played spectacular as well, but there was indeed a bit luck involved in this one, who would’ve thought that Reyes’ and Monfort’s shots just won’t fall that day, they’ve been wide open several times, but still no good.

Ateneo’s bread and butter in this UAAP 72 finals is truly the shooting from their guards from beyond the arc, look back at the 5/6 performance of Jai Reyes in Game 1! They can’t afford to continue miss in the upcoming sudden death match, and the defending champs need to find a solution out of this if they still want to dream about a back to back championship since the implementation of the final four format in 1988.

You can name them all, all the big time shooters for Ateneo, especially Reyes, but that’s just not enough, they have a bench full of potential scores who may break out just anytime from anywhere on the court. Remember the breakout game of Monfort and Long who spelled the difference with their accuracy both against the Growling Tigers in Eliminations? Can you still recall the smooth release of the High School Hot Shot Juami Tiongson at garbage time when he gets into the game?

Well, he’s the player I’m looking forward to. I can’t deny the fact that the player I like most on the court for the Ateneans is Ryan Buenafe, but it’s clear to see that this is just not his year. It would be great to have a Rookie step up big time in situations like this, and I think that just like Chris Tiu’s lethal range, Tiongson may be just of equal lethality and spell the difference between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the University of the East Red Warriors.

They can’t just rely on Rabeh Al-Hussaini, and they just can’t rely on the players they usually get on the court. Look at UE, they’ve dived deep into their bench and found players with great potential that stepped up as well in the second match, and Ateneo might just want to take a deeper look at their bench as well. Let’s see what Juami Tiongson can do for the Eagles and if Coach Norman Black makes use of his awesome potential.

What do you think about the idea of having this Ateneo Blue Eaglet hotshot take the spotlight for a couple of moments in game 3? Well, we’ll find out more about it this coming Thursday when Ateneo faces all odds and goes all out against the University of the East in Game 3 – Sudden Death – Finals for the UAAP 72 Men’s Basketball Championship.

Rivalry Ceases during Time of Calamity

Even the fiercest rivalries rest (for a while). Tropical Storm Ondoy forces Ateneans, La Sallite and other Universities, to unite for a cause to help flash flood victims in Manila.

One of the most criticized writers on Inbound Pass (spec. by Ateneans) sends a message to all Collegiate Basketball Enthusiasts in the Philippines. First, the first game of the UAAP finals has been postponed and now, we can witness rival schools unite for one cause, and that is to help the people in need, the unfortunate victims of the tropical storm Ondoy. The said typhoon might not be the strongest, but it marks as one of the most disastrous ones to have ever crossed Philippine borders, leaving over 300,000 people homeless with literally nothing but themselves to live on with.

Whole villages stood under water on the 26th September when Ondoy marched over Luzon, flash floods rising as high as the first floor of a ordinary building emerges in a matter of minutes. There was literally no escape for the Filipinos, but the rooftop of their houses, but even atop of these, there’s no assurance of their safety. You can check YouTube for the various videos showcasing the tragedy that Filipinos are undergoing right here, right now.

Sir Tony wrote a article urging readers and enthusiasts of the sport to settle down for a while, asking them to forget about rivalry, reminding them about certain things that are far more important than ball games, and it looks like that everyone has followed. Ateneo, La Salle, UST, all major, if not all schools gather around to help out the victims by the means of providing clothing, shelter, food and rescue operations for the missing people.

It’s a refreshing experience for me personally, to think that there’s no end in sight between the warfare of Ateneo and La Salle in various sports and educational fields. I was proven wrong, and I stand corrected with my thought. Could you believe it, two of the most fierced rivalries on earth agree on one thing, one common good, helping the needy.

With that said, I would like to inform all of you that the ball game between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the UE Red Warriors has been postponed to the first of October, 2009.

Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition 2009

The 2009 UAAP Samsung Cheerdance Competition was held at the Big Dome yesterday (Sept 13, 2009). Host FEU is the new UAAP Samsung Cheer Dance champion, while Ateneo and UP followed respectively.

I was a bit busy yesterday so I was unable to watch the whole 2009 UAAP Cheerdance Competition that was held at the Araneta Coliseum and aired live through Studio 23. But I watched a decent part of it that makes me say that the winner should not be the Far Eastern University, who are coincidentally also this years host of UAAP Season 73.

UP is not the UAAP Cheerdance Champion anymore

The University of the Philippines might not be the toughest basketball team that plays in the UAAP, but they’ve proven several times to be a upset team this year. Confident of having bagged a couple of championships in the Samsung Cheerdance Competition over the past years, it wasn’t to be in favor of them this time around as they only ranked third best as the second runner up of the UAAP Cheerdance Competition.

The Blue Babble Battalion keeps knocking

Consistent runner up Ateneo de Manila dubbed as the Blue Bubble continued their consistency as runner up as they landed a notch above last years champions as the first runner up, thus the second best in 2009. Let’s see how they’ll do next year, maybe, just maybe, the title will fall for the Blue Eagles.

The FEU Tamaraws just performed excellent. Well, I have to note that, but it wasn’t anything worth of being the first placer for this year, because their moves have been hybrid moves of other cheering squads over the years, well, it might look good, but original? Partly, but not totally.

What is your say about the UAAP Cheerdance Competition 2009? Are the winners justified or not?

Jessica Mendoza from Ateneo

Have you noticed this cute court side reporter of the Blue Eagles? If she’s been reporting in earlier seasons for the Blue Eagles, then correct me, but she’s just come to caught my attention this year. She reports well, speaks fluent English and does looks very beautiful. Or, as PEXers would label her, Jessilicious. Jessica Mendoza is one true gem that I am looking forward to at every Ateneo assignment.

Jessica Mendoza Picture

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Ateneo claims twice to beat advantage

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles bypassed an extremely competitive Adamson University Falcons quintet to claim their eleventh (11th) win of the season and make sure of a twice to beat advantage coming into the final four.

Ateneo, with an emphatic 11-1 standing is looking ahead for the last two outings that are going to be played against the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons and the Far Eastern University Tamaraws respectively.

The Blue Eagles were surely not on tip top form when they entered this ball game, and an even greater disappointment was Ryan Buenafe who almost committed more turnovers than points; he was surely one big player that was expected to step up after his awakening during their last assignment which was against the National University Bulldogs.

It was Falcons all the way, but Ateneo showed off “once again” their championship mettle and composure over the younger an inexperienced Adamson University to claim this victory which was not as close as their latter assignment, when Ateneo had more control over the game.

Ateneo is looking to stay atop of every other team of the league, to either have the Growling Tigers or La Sale (if, there’s any hope or chance) as their opponent in the final four. The UE Red Warriors are just too hot right now to face, especially with a win against the Green Archers and the upset victory over the hosts FEU.

UE Red Warriors nail FEU Tamaraws

The University of the East Red Warriors took on the FEU Tamaraws and nailed them in which was a ball game of exceptional quality. Both sides played very well and the scoring wasn’t bad for both ends, the only concern to note is the failure of the Tamaraws to deliver from rainbow distance, one major factor that has really turned the page in favor for the Red Warriors.

As emphasized by Studio 23’s host of this ball game, it wasn’t just the UE Red Warriors, but the UE Red HOT Warriors as Paul Lee has nailed shot after shot in the third quarter to help UE take over the host of this years UAAP. Espiritu helped out at the defensive ends with massive back to back blocks accounting to around five denials of which some, have literally been performed back to back on his second jump to help the Red Warriors keep the lead in the final stretch of the game, Espiritu also scored a vital two point bucket down the stretch to extend their advantage over the flat footed FEU Tamaraws who just were unable to keep in touch with the UE squad.

Though, JR Cawaling stepped up big time with a pair of triples to keep their light of hope shining bright, though the effort of Cawaling’s clips from beyond the arch were not enough for his team to succeed to a 9-game-winning streak as they have finally faced their second defeat after the opening misery against the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles dated back to the second game day of the UAAP Season 72 opening.

With this failure of the Tams to beat their red opponents, Ateneo takes on the solo lead with a 9-1 win/loss ratio, while the Tamaraws step down a notch to take the solo second with a 8-2 win/loss ratio. University of the East is now occupying the third spot with a 6-4 win/loss ratio, closely followed by Santo Tomas who fell prey earlier to Kirk Long and Ateneo ending up on solo fourth with a 5-5- win/loss ratio.

If the UE Red Warrios can keep this kind of game, and carry over both momentum and confidence to the next match, it will be a though call for the De La Salle Green Archers who are currently (literally) falling like a shooting star with a 4-game-losing streak in their hands. And like I have said it over and over in earlier posts, it doesn’t looks to be ending with a fourth lost game in a row, but a fifth if UE can tame La Salle in their next outing next week.

Kirk Long carries Ateneo over Santo Tomas

He did it during his stellar year with a fade way in the face of Jervy Cruz, and he does it again, but this time, in style. Kirk Long bags 21 points to carry Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles on his shoulders to victory against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers.

The first game of the Sunday Showdown this August 23, 2009 at the Araneta Coliseum was owned by the defending champions from Katipunan once again, the UAAP 71 Champions showed their mettle on court even without the full potential of reigning MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini who has seen most action from the sideline on the bench.

It’s the question to ask where Ateneo would have been in this match without the presence of Kirk Long who knocked 5-6 triples to help the Blue Eagles stay on top in this match. Long was all over the place and shot the most unbelievable baskets, noteworthy the turning point from my perspective; the triple with six on the clock that more or less six feet away from the rainbow line.

This victory for the defending UAAP champions marks a 6-0 win/loss ratio for the Jesuits, while La Salle at the other end, as like we’ve mentioned is still struggling, especially after the defeat against the University of the Philippines. Surely the present La Salle Squad is not the strongest line-up you have seen, but don’t count them out, especially with Franz Pumaren heading them, for over a decade of success.

Ateneo therefore remains atop of the standings with a 9-1 win/loss ratio with the only defeat going to the UP Fighting Maroons on their July 26 outing. FEU is closely behind Ateneo and looking to rejoin them on top of the standings if ever they can defeat the University of the East Fighting Maroons as the game is right now still going on.

The Blue Eagles still have four assignments left, this includes matches against the National University, the Adamson University and then the University of the Philippines with a final clash against the Far Eastern University to close out the eliminations of this years UAAP season 72.

La Salle loses to UP

The De La Salle University drew the shorter stick once again, and that for the fourth time in a row. It was pretty embarrassing already on the end of the Green Archers head-coach to open the season with a 5-year-low output in terms of points, even more of a blow was the two game loosing streak that they have entered this years season. The Champions of 2007 eventually fought back with a 4-0 win/loss ratio in their third to sixth outing. Only to fall prey to arch nemesis Ateneo de Manila in the first round closing match at the big dome in a very tense game.

The misery of the Green Archers didn’t end with a single loss to their arch nemesis but was followed by the beating of the Adamson University on the following match day. But eventually completing the first ever 3-game-loosing journey of the Green Archers under the rule of their 11th year head coach Franz Pumaren was executed by their rivals Ateneo last week Sunday -which was arguably Ateneo’s best output this year-, the game wasn’t even close, unlike the first outing these two have met and brought each other to the limit in a overtime match up where Ateneo had the upper hand.

While Ateneo has struggled against the fighting Maroons in the first round, it was time for De La Salle to have a taste to be upset by the University of the Philippines. The Fighting Maroons spearheaded by a career game of Mikee Reyes have let La Salle take some of their own medicine -full court press- to depart from the Archers in the early goings by a 8-2 run. The La Salle 5 held on tight to the game and clinched the lead somewhere in the second half but the execution was just not good enough to help them hold on to the quick advantage that they have had. It was mostly UP who led the match, from start until the finish.

Though, UP was lucky at times at the unreasonable and careless turn-overs that La Salle has committed but nevertheless, the University of Philippines Fighting Maroons deserved this victory and so did the best player of the game Mikee Reyes deserved his piece of honor.

It doesn’t only mark a simple upset loss for the Green Archers, but also a 4-game-loosing streak with a potential fifth coming up in their next assignment against the University of the East Red Warriors this August 29 in San Juan.

Ateneo Blue Eagles beat La Salle Six in a Row in UAAP

A big week in the UAAP Season 72 ended. With Ateneo La Salle Part Two as the biggest UAAP Game to be reviewed. It must have been a upset UAAP schedule, that these two opponents have met so early again, that within a weeks time.

Power is turning to Blue and White – 6 Consecutive UAAP Wins for Ateneo against La Salle

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