I predicted UE to take game 1 of the championship series but the De La Salle Green Archers simply had other things in mind and they prove they were the hungrier and the more composed team down the stretch. Game 1 is history and it belongs to the proud Green Archers of De La Salle to the tune of 64-63. So why did UE lost? I will give you ten reasons why.
10. Green Archers coach Franz Pumaren know Warriors coach Dindo Pumaren too well, every inch of the way, and the Warriors' game every centimeter of the way.
9. The UE Red Warriors relaxed, thinking that they're still in heaven after a 14-0 elim sweep. Now they're in danger of becoming the first team to sweep the elims but fail to win the title.
8. The 2-week respite left the Red Warriors rusty and couldn't get their game going. They committed a total of 31 turnovers in the game, their worst of the season. The Green Archers translated those errors into 25 big points. For the game, De La Salle committed only 15 errors.
7. The De La Salle defense limited UE to their lowest output of the season - 63 points. The underdog Green Archers controlled the tempo of the game and played with nothing to lose.
6. UE coach Dindo Pumaren is playing his first finals stint while the elder Franz Pumaren has a rich championship experience and a winning tradition with De La Salle. The Green Archers are looking for their sixth title in nine years. UE has not won a UAAP championship since 1985-86 when Allan Caidic and Jerry Codiñera still wore the team colors. An interesting fact. Do you know that UE has the longest championship run in UAAP history? The Red Warriors were Kings of the court from 1965 to 1971. They also had the longest streak of UAAP finals appearances—16 straight, which they did from 1957 to 1972.
5. The game plan of UE was to pound the ball inside against De La Salle but the Archers successfully countered the gimmick by taking out the rhythm in the Red Warriors' game leading to numerous turnovers which eventually cost the game for UE.
4. The backcourt troika of Pocholo Villanueva, JV Casio and TY Tang destroyed their UE counterparts. The awesome threesome combined for 40 points against UE's Marcy Arellano, James Martinez and Paul Lee's combined output of 24 points. During one crucial stretch of the game, TY Tang drilled in nine straight points to set up for the Maierhofer finish.
3. The frontcourt matchup between Rico Maierhofer and Mark Borboran came down to the last free thow shot in the closing seconds of the game. Maierhofer made the lone free throw to push the Green Archers ahead by one while Borboran missed his last three-point attempt that could have won the game for the Red Warriors. Borboran won the matchup statistically but Maierhofer had the last laugh.
2. The Red Warriors won the battle of the boards 60-31 but missed out on two crucial opportunities. One that allowed Rico Maierhofer to grab the offensive board with 14 ticks left, which resulted in one precious charity (and the game-winning point), and two that allowed Maierhofer (again) to grab the defensive board after a Marcy Arellano tip-in miss. Curiously, the De La Salle rebound total was the lowest for a winning team this season.
1. The Red Warriors may have the advantage talent-wise and man-for-man match-up but the Green Archers negated those advantages with their experience, court savvy and showed everyone else that they have the much bigger heart and an even greater will to win.
Can UE come back or will DLSU bury them down the pits? The answer will be known this Sunday.