UP vs NU 2010-08-07 14:00 2010-08-07 16:00 Filoil Arena
UST vs FEU 2010-08-07 16:00 2010-08-07 18:00 Filoil Arena

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM

Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM
3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM
Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM
3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM
Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

ESPN
Sky Cable 31
Destiny 82

I'm ashamed to admit, inspite of supposedly being a writer for this basketball blog, that this is the first time I've watched a UAAP game end to end this year, DLSU vs ADMU or not. I was at least hoping to watch the game previous to this in full, but I was on vacation and had the bright (at least I thought it was bright) idea to have buy seafood at a wet market and have it grilled so we can eat during the game. Turns out because of said bright idea, I missed out the whole first half. So much for specially grilled food. Yummy though.

At any rate, here are my thoughts on this 5th ADMU - DLSU Game this year, Season 70 of the UAAP - a very rare occurrence, and an incredible treat for all basketball fans regardless of College history. The ADMU - DLSU games are special events in themselves, and are unique amongst sports events in the Philippines. The most rabid fans imaginable come out in full strength to support their team, and arguably, the pressure on the players rival that of playing on the National Team. This 5th game just happens to be extra special being a rubber match after ADMU forced a second game against DLSU which it had to beat twice, the winner moving on to face lossless powerhouse UE in the Finals, starting October 7, 2007.

1. The Eagle's terrific shooting from the freethrow line is nothing short of epic. Claiford Arao's perfect 10 of 10 from the stripe harkens back to the old school days when players still put value on the importance of shooting freethrows. I have always been in awe of good free throw shooting teams - a good indication for me that the coaching staff had done their job. By contrast, DLSU's woeful freethrow performance was nothing short of a disaster, with Oliver Cua missing both gimmees that could've increased the lead to 7 with a few seconds left. Instead, ADMU's Sivirino Baclao scored on a trey, bringing down the gap to a mere 2 points, 11 seconds left. If it weren't for JV Casio's and Rico Maierhofer's own freethrows later on, ADMU could have possibly another heart attack. Maierhofer even split his own freethrows, missing the 2nd. I do not believe you can win in the big leagues if you miss your FTs in crunchtime. Doing so is akin to just giving the game away.
2. I realized at some point in the 2nd that this is definitely the weakest DLSU team I've seen in years. While more recent teams had superstars like Joseph Yeo, MacMac Cardona, RenRen Ritualo and Mike Cortez, there is no such player who has stepped up to that level in this team. Instead, you have the spunky JV Casio, whom inspite of being a sparkplug is still playing the same level as he did last year. Rico Maierhofer has stepped up a bit, but seems to fade in the crunch and occasionally loses composure. He took this horrible running J from behind the backboard sometime in the 2nd quarter that made you wonder if you were watching a neighborhood pickup game. Pocholo Villanueva was the guy I thought would step up bigtime this year, but again like Casio, I think he plays just as well, if not worse, than he did last year. Last year I saw an up and coming old school slasher with a good head on his shoulders. Today I saw a guy who occasionally flashed some of that brilliance, and true enough relied on his superior skills down the stretch. However he delivered in spurts, sometimes being there, sometimes not.

(more...)

With their backs against the wall, the Ateneo Blue Eagles summoned all the strength that they could get to force a deciding game against the De La Salle Green Archers, 65-64 in the UAAP men's basketball tournament. The Green Archers needed only a win to formally advance to the finals against UE but the Blue Eagles had a different thing in mind.

Ateneo sharpshooter Chris Tiu redeemed himself from a lethargic first half with clutch shooting down the stretch to help the Blue Eagles overcome a six-point deficit in the last 2:10. The sudden death match, their fifth encounter this year, will be played this Sunday 3PM at the Big Dome. So far, the Blue Eagles have a 3-1 edge in their series match-up against the Green Archers but the lone win by De La Salle last Sept 18 was the most crucial as it enabled them to gain the number 2 spot and a twice-to-beat advantage in the final round.

Ford Arao was again a beast for the Blue Eagles torching the nets with 19 points, 10 of which came in the first canto. Arao had a buzzer-beating jumper in the waning seconds of the game to help save the Blue Eagles' campaign this season.

After Chris Tiu banged in a three-point jumper to cut the deficit to 61-64, Arao beat the shot clock with a baseline jumper to pull the Blue Eagles within one, 63-64, with only 51 seconds left on the game clock. Tiu then went on to score on a lay-up with 7.3 seconds left to push the Blue Eagles ahead 65-64 and the game.

The Green Archers had one more chance to win the game but guard JV Casio decided to pass to Fil-Bahraini Bader Malabes on the left wing. Malabes’ three-point attempt was off the mark. Forward Rico Maierhofer's offensive putback failed to beat the buzzer.

De La Salle was paced by guard TY Tang with 20 points while Casio had a ho-hum performance, finishing with only 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field.

The Green Archers have not lost a twice-to-beat edge in the UAAP.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are still alive and breathing after defeating the defending champs UST Growling Tigers 69-64 in the 2007 UAAP step ladder phase. The Blue Eagles leaned on Chris Tiu, Ford Arao, and the surprise plays of the lightly-regarded Severino Baclao and Mike Baldos to pull off the win. Arao topscored for Ateneo with 17 points followed by Tiu with 14 markers. But it was the unexpected contribution of Baclao and Baldos that spelled the difference.

Baclao, a transferee from West Negros College, added 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 shot blocks while Baldos had a productive 7 points in just 5 minutes to set the tone for the match. Before the contest, Baldos played in only 5 games for the Blue Eagles. Baclao collared a pair of crucial rebounds in the closing minutes that foiled UST’s comeback.

The Tigers didn't get good games from their main men Jervy Cruz and Khasim Mirza. Cruz, the leading candidate for UAAP MVP, finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds but was horrible from the field. He hit only 6 of his 21 shots, including a horrible 1 of 12 shooting in the second half. Mirza finished with only 2 points on 1-9 shooting. Dylan Ababou was a bright spot for the team chipping in with 16 points and grabbing 11 caroms.

The Blue Eagles face the De La Salle Green Archers on Thursday with a twice-to-beat disadvantage.

Meanwhile, a visibly dejected Pido Jarencio of UST was in tears after an emotional postgame talk with his players. He's still unsure if he'll still coach the Growling Tigers next season.

The De La Salle Green Archers won the battle of nerves against rival Ateneo Blue Eagles 70-69, thus assuring itself of a twice-to-beat advantage in the UAAP stepladder phase. Just to show you how tight the game was, score was dead even 10 times and there were 13 lead changes.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are still from their loss to the lowly National University last Saturday. A win could have given them the outright number 2 spot but it wasn't meant to be.

Forward Cholo Villanueva pushed La Salle to a 70-67 lead with 9.3 seconds left on the clock and the Blue Eagles, with no timeout left, settled for a two-pointer instead of a game-tying three to virtually hand the game to the Green Archers.

Jai Reyes went for a triple but was covered and was forced to pass off to Zion Laterre who instead took a 15-footer with just a second left on the game clock.

The victory over the Blue Eagles was the only Green Archers' first in three meetings with Ateneo but they gained the all-important win which could push themselves in the UAAP finals.

The loss means that Ateneo has to win three straight games in order to arrange a title duel with the undefeated University of the East. The Blue Eagles need to win over UST this Sunday for the right to face the De La Salle Green Archers.

Brgy Ginebra Kings are still looking for an able replacement to Fil-am forward Rudy Hatfield who may not be back with the team this campaign and are reportedly looking into the direction of Talk N Text fronliner Don Allado. Joel Orellana of Business Mirror reported that the Gin Kings have inquired about the availability of the 6-5 Allado but the Phonepals wanted injured center Rafi Reavis in return. Brgy. Ginebra turned down the proposed one-on-one deal and are instead focusing on ways of getting the former Green Archer without involving Reavis.

Allado just signed a lucrative three-year P12.6 million deal with the Phonepals. Just early this week, the Gins completed a three-team deal with Purefoods and Air21, acquiring guard Paul Artadi. They were also rumored to covet Nic Belasco from Welcoat until the latter decided to stick with the Dragons with a reported two-year P8.4 million deal.

As promised, here's Arwind Santos' story care of Nike:

Nike Philippines has gone and made videos featuring some of the hottest local ballers in the country. With Cannes-winning director Carlo Ledesma and Producer Mel Lozano at the helm, they have since produced a 60 minute documentary inspired by grassroots Filipino basketball, called "My Game".

As a teaser to this, we at BallEx have the privilege of delivering to you three 30 second videos featuring DonDon Hontiveros, Arwind Santos and this first one, featuring Purefoods Chunkee Giants Superstar James Yap. So without further ado:

Here's the official Press Release after the jump:

(more...)

The University of the East swept the UAAP eliminations as expected but not before getting roughed up by the highly-determined De La Salle Green Archers. With the score tied at 16 in the opening canto, De La Salle forward Rico Maierhofer landed a hard foul on UE forward Mark Borboran. Mark Fampulme came to his teammate's aid and confronted Maierhofer on the De La Salle bench, which sparked a verbal and shoving incident among players of both sides.
(more...)

Even before he could suit up for his new team, Nic Belasco may find himself a new home.

Welcoat and Brgy. Ginebra are reportedly closing on a deal that would send the disgruntled newly-acquired forward to the Gin Kings for forward Mike Holper and rookie guard Macky Escalona.
(more...)