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.

UST forces rubber match with ADMU

• Sorry for the title guys. Haha.
• As expected, ADMU books a seat in the finals with a crushing 81-64win over the UST Growling Tigers. (Maybe Crying Tigers after this game.)
• ADMU is simply the better team and are still the favorites to win the UAAP crown with this victory.
• ADMU just plays the game the right way. They’ll play defense, rotate the ball and take the best shot possible.
• UST needs to study how to defend the pick-and-roll. I don’t get it why they keep on giving Jai Reyes an open shot after he comes off the screen. The guy only knows how to shoot and either switching (which should work fabulously with UST since they basically have 4 perimeter players and an agile big man on floor always) or fighting through the screen will be more than enough to neutralize Jainamite. Why is UST double teaming the screener every single time knowing the guy who came off the screen is a deadly shooter?
• I hate Jai Reyes but he surely looked like a back-to-back champion in this game. He torched UST by hitting every open shot they gave him in route to 17 points. The guy is too cocky for what he can do for his team. He’s just a measly shooter who benefits from the attention the opposing defense gives to Rabeh and Eric. (Fine, his leadership has been crucial this year for ADMU especially with the graduation of Chirs Tiu and yes this is his girl.) Eric Salamat has every right to salute to the crown every play because he has been an integral part of Eagles’ offense and DEFENSE but Jai needs to shut up and play basketball.
• Eric Salamat probably is the MVP of this Ateneo team. (I’m sorry Rabeh, I think you’re too busy talking to the refs and crying about ticky-tacky fouls. ) The guy was either snatching the ball or tipping the ball to his teammates. He was part of every defensive play in the 2^nd quarter. On the other end, he would draw the defense and make spectacular passes to his teammates. He was literally everywhere on the floor. He took a back seat in the 2^nd half as he wasn’t needed as guys like Jai and Ryan were barbecuing the Tigers. His stats of6 points, 5 assists and 4 steals are not indications of his brilliant performance.
• So sad to see Ababou and Mirza graduate on such a humiliating finish to their collegiate careers. Mirza reverted back to his old form and jacked up a ton of 3s instead of doing a Corey Maggette and fish a ton of fouls. Ababou did manage to get his number quietly but I’m sure he would’ve liked to go down fighting a closer fight. Fortuna and Teng had their moments but they should’ve done a better job of setting up those guys instead of taking ill-advised shots.
• I know their offense includes a lot of 3 point attempts but I’m sure Pido doesn’t want them to take a 3 on every damn possession. Ateneo runs for high percentage 2 point attempts and they do such a great job of selective fastbreak. They know when to push the tempo or to set up in the halfcourt.
• Hats off to Pido Jarencio this year for his new design of UST’s offense. A lot of people were expecting DLSU or ADU to enter the final 4 this year but Pido adjusted to the arsenal he was given this year without his MVP, Jervy Cruz. It’s going to be a rough year next year for them unless they’re keeping another RP youth member and another 20-10 guy in their team B.