ADMU Draws First Blood

• Ateneo Blue Eagles wins over the UE Red Warriors 78-71 in Game 1 of UAAP Finals
• Both teams with some minor tweaks in their starting lineups. Austria started over Kirk Long for ADMU. UE started with Paul Lee in the bench. Zamar and Reyes started in their backcourt while it was the usual trio of Acuna, Espiritu and Llagas up front. UE started out pretty alright for the 1st couple of minutes without Lee but he started out slow and needed some time to get into the flow of the game.
• Rabeh dominated Llagas at the start of the game. Pari was just standing while Rabeh showed his full arsenal of moves. It was all business for the big man as he remained focused all game long. Pari needs to get more physical with Rabeh. He needs to push the former UAAP MVP out of his comfort spots. Rabeh is just unstoppable if he gets the ball where he wants. There is no way that UE can defend him one on one. As good as Eric is this year, Rabeh's the main reason why ADMU is one win away from back-to-back championships.
• As expected, you won't see a game blown wide open in this series. UE was able to make 19-1 run in the 2nd quarter to grab the lead by halftime. Coach Lawrence made great adjustment when he switched to smaller unit (Espiritu, Acuna, Lee, Reyes, Lingganay) and played zone defense. Nonoy Baclao isn't really known for his low post moves as this was evident as he failed to score on the hot shot small forward, Acuna. Rabeh also struggled to score on the small unit as they sent multiple defenders whenever he would get the ball down low. Plus, a great shot blocker was awaiting for him. Acuna gave Nonoy, known as a great defender, a lot of headaches on the other end. His height and ability to shoot and to drive proved too much for the former Finals MVP.
• UE did a great job taking care of ball in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Unfortunately their turnovers late in the game were probably to blame for their loss. ADMU, known for their great execution, showed their end game brilliance in this game. You never saw a sign of panic from these Eagles even when UE finally took the lead. Their experience was a key factor in this game. UE needs to pick their shots. I know they've got guys who can knock down a shot from anywhere but you can't beat this Eagle team only with talent.
• UE needs to work on their defense. First of all, Jai can only hit a shot when he's open. The guy can brag all he wants but even a guy like me will be enough to stop the guy. You just have to challenge his shot and there's no way that he can make a shot. (So Jai, stop loading your gun. You gun is a measly water gun.) Jai is getting open shot after open shot when he comes off the screen. UE bigs need to show to prevent an open shot and it's not like the screener is rolling hard towards the basket. I know they're in a zone but they need to be aware of where Jai is on the floor. The only thing he can do is shoot so why is it so hard to stop him? Additionally, UE needs to defend harder on the free throw area. Rabeh is getting open shots in FT area for too often. He's already unstoppable down low so you might at least stop him from the perimeter. UE should also consider putting a quicker guy on Rabeh and have him front the man mountain from Ateneo. UE needs to change their defense to try to limit Rabeh.
• The Red Warriors got a lot of help from Raphy Reyes. He was very active all game long and provided the Warriors the much needed spark. He scored a lot of crucial baskets and gave UE a lot of hustle plays. UE needs to get a lot of help from the other guys. Zamar, Raphy Rudy and their other bench guys need to be part of the game. They have to provide something positive in Game 2 if UE wants to equalize the series.
• A well deserved SMOY award for Nico Salva. All season long, he has been able to provide ADMU quality minutes. This guy can score with the best of them. He'll knock down open shots and won't take bad shots. He has also been able to ability to score one-on-one. In one play in the 2nd quarter, he was able to score on DPOY, Elmer Espiritu, by throwing a couple fakes on him.
• Paul Lee had a slow start as he came off the bench. ADMU also did a great job clogging the lane whenever Paul was on attack mode. Unfortunately for ADMU, you can only limit great players and not stop them completely. He was usual self (taking and making difficult shots) come 2nd quarter.
• UE's very lucky Eric Salamat didn't show up. He was averaging 1.2 points in the finals for his career and his 4 points today surely didn't help. INVESTIGATE HIM FOR GAME-FIXING! OR BETTER YET TAKE HIM OFF THE TEAM TO IMPROVE TEAM CHEMISTRY. Just like how FEU did it.