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Green Overshadows the Lighter Shade of Blue

I thought this Final Four matchup would be a different ballgame compared to Ateneo’s last games against La Salle so I decided to write this recap quarter by quarter. As I turned on the TV, it was already 6-2 for La Salle and I thought to myself, “Man, this is still the same start for Ateneo...”

1^st Quarter
Just as I turned on the TV, I was surprised to see a different lineup for Ateneo. Instead of Japhet starting at center, Coach Norman had Martin Quimson start instead. Probably, this was to prevent Aguilar from committing early fouls and have him provide a spark from the bench. Unfortunately for Ateneo though, Kramer committed 2 quick fouls which forced Coach Norman to prematurely send in Aguilar in the game.

Aguilar made an instant impact as he made a Carteresque move on JV Casio. For those of you who can’t quite remember the Carter move, let me refresh your memory. Remember the 2000 Sydney Olympics where Carter jumped over, wait, not just jumped but dunked over the France’s 7-foot center. Yep, Aguilar almost did that as he took off way far from the basket and jumped over Casio who went in front of him to take the charge. Aguilar made the shot, though he did not really jump over Casio and dunk the ball. He just laid the ball in stretching his long arms. He actually lost control of the ball on his way up but managed to control the ball and make the basket. Nevertheless, the shot still merits a “Wow” from the crowd, the commentators, and even I myself.

The first quarter was terrible for JC Intal as he was rendered scoreless (0-6 FG) the entire canto. LA Tenorio also had a bad quarter, at least field goal-wise as he shot 2 for 6 from the field for 4 points. But to come to think of it, it was a great thing as he scored 40% of Ateneo’s points of that quarter (4 of Ateneo’s 10 points). But Tenorio’s overall performance in that quarter was superb as he dished off 2 assists and got 3 steals to go along with his 2 rebounds. To add to that, LA committed 0 turnovers, which is very unlikely, considering that he handles the ball most of time during Ateneo’s possessions.

Overall, it was a great quarter for Ateneo. Hell, I think that quarter was almost god-like for Ateneo as they committed only 2 turnovers and they held La Salle to only 11 points. It was probably their best opening quarter against La Salle ever. Remember Ateneo allowing 40 points by La Salle in their first meeting this season? And take note, these are 10-minute quarters and not 12-minute ones. It is even abysmal to allow 40 points in a 12-minute quarter. So yeah, I stand on calling this a god-like quarter for Ateneo… Quarter ends with La Salle leading 11-10.

2^nd Quarter
Intal and LA head to bench to start the quarter while Emman Nazareno comes in for defensive purposes. As expected with Tenorio on the bench, Ateneo starts the quarter in a lethargic manner as they committed 5 turnovers to give La Salle a 19-10 advantage. Ateneo’s offense seemed to be disoriented with Tenorio on the bench. Well, the entire Ateneo five on the floor looked to be in complete disarray without Tenorio on the floor.

With La Salle threatening to break the game loose, Coach Norman had seen enough and tapped Tenorio to head back to the floor. With Tenorio back on the floor, the entire team seemed to settle down. Tenorio instantly made an impact as he dished off an assist to Intal for his first points of the ballgame. Because of Tenorio’s aggressive play, Joseph Yeo actually fouled him while shooting a three. Although the shot did not go in, Tenorio made his 3 free throws. Because of this foul, Tenorio appeared to have found his shooting touch. Remember, prior to the foul, Tenorio shot 0 for 3 from 3-point country, and 2 for 6 overall for 4 points. On Ateneo’s next possession, Tenorio made a 3 in the deep corner. He again made another 3 in front of a La Salle defender to tie the count at 21. On the other end, Rico Maierhoffer was fouled and split his charities to give La Salle a 1-point lead. But Tenorio was determined to give Ateneo the lead as he drove against the La Salle defense and convert on a layup to give Ateneo its first lead at 23-22.

I’m not sure if Tenorio made the last shot of the half but nevertheless, the half ended with Ateneo up 25-22. I would like to commend Nazareno’s relentless defense on La Salle’s point guards and his on-court hustle. He harassed Tang and Casio and made them ineffective in the 2^nd quarter. Tenorio finished the half with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 or 5 assists to his name.

Halftime Report
Ateneo looked like a completely different team from the team that La Salle faced in the elims. Here are the stats to support my claim:

---------------------------ADMU----------------DLSU----------------
FG----------------------9/27 (33%)-----------9/33 (27%)-------------
Turnovers ------------------9----------------------8------------------
Points off turnovers---------4----------------------4------------------
Fastbreak Points------------4----------------------5------------------

Ateneo held La Salle to only 22 points in the first half. That alone is amazing. When Ateneo goes neck-to-neck with La Salle in turnovers committed, turnover points and fastbreak points, Ateneo is definitely in the right track. They are miles away from being blown out again. Limiting La Salle’s FB points and points off TOs, is certainly a positive thing, when they take away La Salle’s strength.

3^rd Quarter
Ateneo started the half with an unorthodox lineup with Tenorio, Membrere, Kramer, Quimson and Intal on the floor. But Macky Escalona quickly subbed Membrere after 2 minutes. Ateneo once again had a sluggish start as La Salle made 4 straight points. But Ateneo counters with a nice press break which led to an easy layup by Quimson off an assist by Intal. Ateneo once again had a difficulty of breaking La Salle’s press as they already committed 3 turnovers with 5 minutes left in the third. The only highlight for Ateneo in that quarter was the emphatic double-block by Intal and Aguilar on Aquino.

I was caught by surprise when Coach Norman fielded in Bajie del Rosario, knowing his tendency to commit blunders and turnovers. La Salle went on a 13-0 run since the 4:42 mark of the third. Del Rosario committed two straight turnovers to give La Salle a 41-31 lead. La Salle had a 14-0 advantage over Ateneo in points off turnovers in this quarter.

Tenorio drove in for a layup to break Ateneo’s silence. But Yeo answered on the other end to preserve their double-digit lead. A mental lapse on Kramer on an inbounds play added to Coach Norman’s headaches, as Kramer went to the backcourt to catch the inbounds pass even if the ball was inbounded on their frontcourt. To add to Ateneo’s problems, TY Tang found his stroke in the third as DLSU enjoyed biggest lead, so far, of 14 at 50-36 to end the quarter.

Ateneo was outscored by La Salle 28-11. Hell, they were even outscored by Yeo alone, who unloaded 14 big points in the third quarter alone. And even more hell, their 9 turnovers almost equaled the total number of points they scored in that quarter.

4^th Quarter
Ateneo starts the quarter with a turnover with Tenorio on the bench. Tenorio enters the game at the 6-minute mark of the quarter. Tenorio immediately made an impact as he converted on a trey. But on the other end, Yeo answered back with his own version of a three. After Yeo’s shot, Ateneo’s doom seemed to be inevitable as Tenorio suffered from cramps. But Membrere seemed to be unshaken as he made a three to cut the lead to 10.

But on the next possession, Yeo was fouled he made his 2 charities. Meanwhile on the other end, Intal attempts a layup that didn’t even hit the rim. La Salle got the ball back as Yeo sets up Arana for a 3 to give La Salle a 15-point cushion. Tenorio’s cramps spelled Ateneo’s undoing as Lasalle went on to break Ateneo’s spirits. Tenorio cried on the floor with a towel over his head.

Game ends 74-57 for Lasalle. This is a sad way to end LA’s illustrious and stellar UAAP career.

Post-Game Analysis and Trivia
Ateneo committed 21 turnovers compared to Lasalle’s 12. Need I say more?

Some trivia by the way… Coach Franz Pumaren is 18-9 against Ateneo, and 7-4 in the postseason.

posted by kArEnEiL @ 6:10 PM