Green Archers defeat Blue Eagles

Taft’s, Promiscuous Indians won against the Mighty Tandangs of Katipunan.

Oh who am I kidding, I can’t come up with a clever commentary like Bones’. In fact, if only for Bones’ hilarious interpretations, I wouldn’t mind Ateneo winning.

In case the commentary doesn’t make any sense, it was about Ateneo’s victory over UST. And yes, Bones is a true blue Atenean, so that [commentary] is supposed to be a good thing.

I must say that it was a relief that La Salle at the very least, kept up their defense, which didn’t allow Ateneo to come back from the deficit like a steamroller (which the latter is so fond of doing)

I’ve always complained about Mac Cardona; how he always holds the ball but never converts during the last stretches of a game. Sure, he always scores in the early minutes… but when it really matters (when the opponent is catching up) he seems to loose his steam and just throws the ball away.

This game was an exception however – Cardona was integral both offensively and defensively especially during the last part, which more than made up for his blunders in “other” games. I just hope he can maintain that consistency.

Finally, Franz finally, FINALLY (did I mention FINALLY?) realized how deadly Ateneo players are on outside shots. Seeing Ateneo’s shots limited to the inside was a relief. Ateneo members are incredible scorers anywhere – so if you’re going to let them score, might as well have them score no greater than 2 points.

Which makes you admire (or fear, whichever you prefer) Ateneo even more. La Salle was able to contain outside shots and keep LA at bay, yet Ateneo still manages to trim a 33 point lead to 9 at some point in the game.

After seeing the Blue Eagles’ coach talking to the players on one of the time-outs, one could be led to believe that fatigue is a crucial factor. I overheard him [on TV] asking each of the players how they were feeling (and I think it was how they felt about the “play”). I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like he was adjusting the plays to conform to player conditions.

I think this is an excellent approach. All Ateneo members are capable scorers, that much has been proven time and time again. So it would be just a matter of endurance – which would explain their ability of nabbing a win in spite of any deficit.

I was tense too, as I know how much fatigue can do to you, and was bracing myself for the possibility that La Salle offense/defense might just collapse from fatigue – especially after all those steals, rotations, and how they were defending each Ateneo player. I was glad to see that La Salle kept it together and contained the Eagles enough to deny them from taking the lead.

But as usual, I wouldn’t put my hopes up just yet. Though today’s game seemed like Franz finally adjusted to Ateneo’s playing style… La Salle is far from being considered consistent.

And there’s the fact that Ateneo seems to have an excellent coach too, he may come up with a good counter. At the end of the day, it’s anyone’s ballgame, I just hope that the two contenders would be La Salle and Ateneo… the UAAP would just be plain boring without those schools going head-to-head.