8/05/2005
A loss worth applauding
You know that the game is vital when people find ways to contact you even if you don’t have a mobile phone with you just to ask if you’re going to watch the game. In this case, the Mom Phone was the culprit.
You have an idea on how important it is when SRO tickets sell out and it’s not even an Ateneo-De La Salle game and neither is it the finals.
So far, the Archer loses I have witnessed were disappointing. But something was different with how they lost against still undefeated FEU Tamaraws that Sunday afternoon.
In their previous defeats, it was a bunch of disorganized kids out there. They were so disoriented that OJ Cua even wore last year’s jersey in the DLSU-UP match.
The ‘trend’ to watch in DLSU-FEU matchups so far, is whoever gets the opening or scores the first basket usually wins. And this where FEU’s advantage lies. You could see the difference when the five Tams huddle in the middle of the court. They are almost of the same height! All of them! From Jonas Villanueva to Mark Isip.
Going back, FEU won the tip. No surprise there. They missed their first attempt. Three guesses who got the rebound. Next moment, Arwind Santos scored from fadeaway jumper near the freethrow line. Ouch.
But then, TY Tang answered with a booming three-pointer. However, Santos (or was it Villanueva) replied with another three. The Archers would never taste a significant lead from thereon.
The Green Archers may be behind most of the game, but the thing is, they kept on digging, clawing, and fighting. The Tamaraws never broke the game wide open, something no other team in the current UAAP men’s basketball season has done so far.
Tang is a sight to behold. "Tang ina niya," is all I could say. This is not the TO Tang we are used to watching. This guy’s game has upped by two notches.
Are you sure that the person wearing jersey number 11 was not Mike Cortez? He played like one with the proverbial eye at the back of his head. Did anyone see that no-look behind the back pass to Joseph Yeo while Tang was running towards the opposite direction?
Where was his passes coming from? And when did he develop his perimeter shooting? How about that running off-the-backboard coming from a give and go?
As for contemporary Yeo, there is a lot left to be desired in him. He is the one who is supposed to be carrying the team on his shoulders. But JV Casio plays better than him. Yeo was surpassed by Mark Cardona, is being overtaken by Tang, and would soon be overwhelmed by Casio, development wise, if he doesn’t step up.
One thing going for the Archers is that since Cardona left, everybody is forced to step up and deliver. Thus, the balanced scoring. Anybody may score because there is no first option. Either that or the first option, Yeo, is conking his shots right now. Take note, he made his first three point basket of the season against UST.
The Ninja’s freethrow shooting is still questionable while the rest of the Archers have been pretty lucky with ‘the finger’, a habit the Gang Green started last year which they are trying to promulgate to the rest of the Lasallian community.
Nevertheless, this shouldn’t be a Yeo-bashing piece. This is should be about the Archers’ resilience.
Do you know what the current lineup remind me of? The 2000 Archers. Sure, back then they were a powerhouse. They had Renren Ritualo, Macmac Cuan, Mike Cortez, and what have you.
The similarity, though, lies on how they execute the Pumaren magic. Both squads never back down from a challenge. Franz just turns on this switch and every body plays a level higher, even if they were losing.
The Green Archers were down by a considerable margin against the Eagles in their second round toss up, the same Eagles they defeated by 25 on opening day, and the same Eagles they decimated in the finals. For a brief moment in the second half, the Archers played their A-game and trimmed the down gap significantly, then they relaxed.
A statement that boldly says, "We could beat you any time we like." Arrogant, yes. Confident, definitely.
This I witnessed again during the final minutes of the DLSU-UST game.
With the Archers relaxing and UST gaining ground, ‘El Bigote’ called out his shock troopers, and in a span of two minutes, transformed the 13-point to a 20-point bubble by the sound of the buzzer.
Same thing against the Tams, and for 38 minutes at that. The Archers were only down by three going into the three minute mark. Then, Isip made a three-point play to make it 63-57, Tams. The only time they relaxed was after Arwind Santos made that tsamba of a pa-banda basket off the top of the key with the matching takbong mayaman.
And even if the final two minutes was already garbage time (a lead of nine was already a breakout. That was how close the game was.), the Tams weren’t even able to breakaway.
July and I were eagerly looking at the scoreboard even if the outcome was already settled. The Tams made it ten. Then, as a statement, Tang made a three point shot for the final score, 62-69.
A loss, yes, but it was also a victory. The Archers didn’t lose to a better team, July said. What gave FEU the victory was their splendid shooting from outside and the breaks of the game.
The odd thing is, for a tall team like FEU, why would they rely on their outside shooting when they could just dump it inside and wreak havoc in the paint? That just means the smaller Archers wouldn’t even let them in. It’s a given that De La Salle would lose in the rebounding department, which is where Far Eastern got their inside points, from the offensive glass.
In short, FEU didn’t win by domination.
The Archers lost. I would want to cry, not because of the defeat, but because of the heart exhibited by the Archers. We lost, but I left Araneta Coliseum that night with a smile, knowing that every bump the young Archers encounter is an experience learned and would eventually toughen them up in the battles ahead.See you in the second round. And for FEU, see you in the finals. This I assure you.
You have an idea on how important it is when SRO tickets sell out and it’s not even an Ateneo-De La Salle game and neither is it the finals.
So far, the Archer loses I have witnessed were disappointing. But something was different with how they lost against still undefeated FEU Tamaraws that Sunday afternoon.
In their previous defeats, it was a bunch of disorganized kids out there. They were so disoriented that OJ Cua even wore last year’s jersey in the DLSU-UP match.
The ‘trend’ to watch in DLSU-FEU matchups so far, is whoever gets the opening or scores the first basket usually wins. And this where FEU’s advantage lies. You could see the difference when the five Tams huddle in the middle of the court. They are almost of the same height! All of them! From Jonas Villanueva to Mark Isip.
Going back, FEU won the tip. No surprise there. They missed their first attempt. Three guesses who got the rebound. Next moment, Arwind Santos scored from fadeaway jumper near the freethrow line. Ouch.
But then, TY Tang answered with a booming three-pointer. However, Santos (or was it Villanueva) replied with another three. The Archers would never taste a significant lead from thereon.
The Green Archers may be behind most of the game, but the thing is, they kept on digging, clawing, and fighting. The Tamaraws never broke the game wide open, something no other team in the current UAAP men’s basketball season has done so far.
Tang is a sight to behold. "Tang ina niya," is all I could say. This is not the TO Tang we are used to watching. This guy’s game has upped by two notches.
Are you sure that the person wearing jersey number 11 was not Mike Cortez? He played like one with the proverbial eye at the back of his head. Did anyone see that no-look behind the back pass to Joseph Yeo while Tang was running towards the opposite direction?
Where was his passes coming from? And when did he develop his perimeter shooting? How about that running off-the-backboard coming from a give and go?
As for contemporary Yeo, there is a lot left to be desired in him. He is the one who is supposed to be carrying the team on his shoulders. But JV Casio plays better than him. Yeo was surpassed by Mark Cardona, is being overtaken by Tang, and would soon be overwhelmed by Casio, development wise, if he doesn’t step up.
One thing going for the Archers is that since Cardona left, everybody is forced to step up and deliver. Thus, the balanced scoring. Anybody may score because there is no first option. Either that or the first option, Yeo, is conking his shots right now. Take note, he made his first three point basket of the season against UST.
The Ninja’s freethrow shooting is still questionable while the rest of the Archers have been pretty lucky with ‘the finger’, a habit the Gang Green started last year which they are trying to promulgate to the rest of the Lasallian community.
Nevertheless, this shouldn’t be a Yeo-bashing piece. This is should be about the Archers’ resilience.
Do you know what the current lineup remind me of? The 2000 Archers. Sure, back then they were a powerhouse. They had Renren Ritualo, Macmac Cuan, Mike Cortez, and what have you.
The similarity, though, lies on how they execute the Pumaren magic. Both squads never back down from a challenge. Franz just turns on this switch and every body plays a level higher, even if they were losing.
The Green Archers were down by a considerable margin against the Eagles in their second round toss up, the same Eagles they defeated by 25 on opening day, and the same Eagles they decimated in the finals. For a brief moment in the second half, the Archers played their A-game and trimmed the down gap significantly, then they relaxed.
A statement that boldly says, "We could beat you any time we like." Arrogant, yes. Confident, definitely.
This I witnessed again during the final minutes of the DLSU-UST game.
With the Archers relaxing and UST gaining ground, ‘El Bigote’ called out his shock troopers, and in a span of two minutes, transformed the 13-point to a 20-point bubble by the sound of the buzzer.
Same thing against the Tams, and for 38 minutes at that. The Archers were only down by three going into the three minute mark. Then, Isip made a three-point play to make it 63-57, Tams. The only time they relaxed was after Arwind Santos made that tsamba of a pa-banda basket off the top of the key with the matching takbong mayaman.
And even if the final two minutes was already garbage time (a lead of nine was already a breakout. That was how close the game was.), the Tams weren’t even able to breakaway.
July and I were eagerly looking at the scoreboard even if the outcome was already settled. The Tams made it ten. Then, as a statement, Tang made a three point shot for the final score, 62-69.
A loss, yes, but it was also a victory. The Archers didn’t lose to a better team, July said. What gave FEU the victory was their splendid shooting from outside and the breaks of the game.
The odd thing is, for a tall team like FEU, why would they rely on their outside shooting when they could just dump it inside and wreak havoc in the paint? That just means the smaller Archers wouldn’t even let them in. It’s a given that De La Salle would lose in the rebounding department, which is where Far Eastern got their inside points, from the offensive glass.
In short, FEU didn’t win by domination.
The Archers lost. I would want to cry, not because of the defeat, but because of the heart exhibited by the Archers. We lost, but I left Araneta Coliseum that night with a smile, knowing that every bump the young Archers encounter is an experience learned and would eventually toughen them up in the battles ahead.See you in the second round. And for FEU, see you in the finals. This I assure you.
// posted by Unknown @ 20:03 
