2007’s Top Seven
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COLLEGE basketball was a highlight factory in 2007. From Chris Tiu’s endgame heroics, to San Beda’s dynasty-building campaign and everything in between, the seventh year of the third millennium will be remembered for all the right and wrong reasons. Below is a countdown of 2K7’s finest hours.
7. From Katipunan to Bowling Green: Former Ateneo Blue Eagle Japeth Aguilar became the first-ever Filipino-born player to play US NCAA Division I hoops after being recruited by the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Let’s put Aguilar’s journey into America’s heartland in perspective. On the one hand, there’s a lot of talk that this is the beginning of his path toward the NBA. Quite frankly, Aguilar getting into the NBA, or even the D-League, is like De La Salle trading in its color green for blue. He may have the potential, but so do roughly 4,000 other players plying their trade in Division I.
On the other hand, Aguilar’s two-year stay in Bowling Green will help him become one of the most dominant players in Philippine basketball for years to come. Even though the Hilltoppers aren’t as popular as, say, the UCLA Bruins, Duke Blue Devils or North Carolina Tar Heels, they have a solid mid-major basketball team that has gone to the NCAA Tournament (or March Madness) five times since 1993, the most for any Sun Belt Conference squad for that duration. And that’s going to help Aguilar.
6. Fight club: At times, Season 83 of the NCAA resembled late-night brawls at bars. From physically restraining Ariel Vanguardia myself from Frankie Lim in San Juan, to two Letran assistant coaches storming the stands after getting pelted by inanimate objects, the NCAA had more than its share of violent conduct.
What’s disappointing is the way the league’s Management Committee handled these issues. Both incidents were dealt with through the issuance of “strict oral reprimands� on the parties concerned. No suspensions were levied, and the most extreme measure taken was the banning of the fans caught throwing objects at the Letran assistants.
If this is the way future Mancoms will take care of business in the NCAA, expect more scuffles and chaos to break loose.
5. Wanna bet?: College of Saint Benilde’s on-court woes could be traced to star shooter Paolo Orbeta’s woes off the court. The 24-year-old spitfire from Albay was arrested by National Bureau of Investigation authorities for allegations of game-fixing seven games into the Blazers’ season. His 10.1 point per game average this season was a far cry from his league-leading 17.3 clip in 2004, and this was more than enough reason to convict him before the proverbial court of public opinion, save of course for the real authorities who nabbed him.
Earlier in the year, Far Eastern University’s promising big man, JR Gerilla, was kicked off the Tamaraw roster, reportedly for being involved in game-fixing as well. Although FEU officials never confirmed it, word on the street was that Gerilla’s sub-par play easily gave him away.
The saga surrounding both Orbeta and Gerilla isn’t a laughing matter. Even if the allegations aren’t proven, collegiate basketball officials, as well as coaches, have to keep tabs on what their players are doing. If these kids learn how to tank games at such an early age, imagine what they’ll be doing two or three years from now.
4. What’s in a win?: That’s precisely the same question that both the University of the Philippines and CSB is asking. Both schools have a combined student population of 30,075, but both schools won one game between them, losing 25 along the way.
The Fighting Maroons lost all 14 of their games by an average margin of 20.9 points, including a 34-point drubbing at the hands of Katipunan rivals Ateneo de Manila and a 40-point scalping care of the University of the East Red Warriors. Nine of CSB’s losses, meanwhile, were in double-figures. After winning their opening game against Mapua, the Blazers lost 11 straight – the longest losing streak by any NCAA team in the 21st century.
3. Consolation, or champion of champions?: The Ateneo Blue Eagles captured this year’s Collegiate National Championship by beating the upstart University of the Visayas Green Lancers. Along the way, guys like Tiu, Nonoy Baclao and Kirk Long showed that the Eagles will still be competitive next year.
The tourney, however, was tainted by the withdrawal of both DLSU and UE (while Letran backed out even earlier). To a certain degree, their absence diminished the quality of competition the event had to offer. But at the same time, powerhouses like San Beda, UST and UV still played – and took the competition seriously by fielding complete lineups.
It’ll be difficult to conclude that Ateneo is indeed the king of kings. But at the same time, treating this year’s CNC as a consolation prize is way more absurd. Despite the withdrawals, the level of play of this year’s CNC was not as far from that displayed in the UAAP or NCAA. Ateneo’s win is valid, and yes, it reinforces its status as one of the best teams in the country.
2. Whoop it up!!: De La Salle and San Beda proved to be worthy champions of their respective leagues in 2007. Vindication after a year’s absence thanks to suspension was the battlecry of Taft’s finest, while building a dynasty was the name of the game for the once championship-starved Red Lions.
What makes their championship-winning runs all the more special was the emergence of rising stars for both squads. DLSU guard Pocholo Villanueva is now a proven primetime performer thanks to his finals performance versus UE, which gave him co-Finals MVP honors (with JV Casio), while Ogie Menor finally stepped out of the shadows of Yousif Aljamal and Pong Escobal to emerge as San Beda’s chief gunner down the stretch.
1. Let’s party like it’s 1993 (or should we?): Fourteen years ago, University of Santo Tomas swept the double-elimination round of the UAAP and automatically won the title as a result. A couple of rule changes, though, meant that a team that sweeps the regular-season will only be given an automatic finals slot.
Enter the University of the East Red Warriors. After sweeping the 14-game elims, coach Dindo Pumaren’s wards were swept in their best-of-three title joust with DLSU in an ironic twist of fate. Was it the 21-day layoff that caused UE’s demise? Or was it complacency, especially given the fact that the Warriors trounced DLSU twice during the year, including a 20-point blowout in July?
We’ll never know, but what we do know is that UE just didn’t show up to play, especially in the dying minutes of the pivotal Game 2. The boys from Recto swept, then got swept. So should a team that sweeps the eliminations be gifted the title for its efforts? Honestly, 1993 is a thing of the past, and even that UST team should have played for the championship. In the meantime, UE has a ton of lessons to learn from this experience.
Tags: Ateneo, Green-Achers, ncaa, Postgame, San Sebastian Cavite Baycats, San-Beda, UAAP, USTRelated posts
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question
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Friday, 28 December 2007 at 2:20 am
mr christian soler, totoo bang pag iisahin na ang NCAA at UAAP? pwde ka bang magsulat ng article or mag lagay ng opinion about dito? tnx
Christian Soler
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Friday, 28 December 2007 at 3:54 am
Question, there’s news that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is considering merging the UAAP and NCAA tourneys for next year. Officials of both host schools, UP and Mapua, respectively, have expressed interest in the proposal.
Right now, it would premature to write an article about it. I personally would not want to second-guess SBP officials, especially with regard to how the format will be drawn up should the plan push through, and how long the season will last.
For me, though, this merger will not bode well for two schools…Ateneo and DLSU, as well as Araneta Coliseum officials. I’m assuming that should this push through, the elimination round format will be a single round-robin affair, which means that Blue and Green will meet each other once (if this merged league undertakes a double round-robin format, that would mean 30 games per team).
Implications? Fans from both rival schools, which argubaly carry the most weight in terms of generating attention and PR, won’t be happy with the idea of seeing their schools meet just once. Also, that’s 20,000+ less paying patrons for the Araneta Coliseum.
Again, though, this is all within the realm of speculation. Let’s wait for further developments, and take it from there.
UE Fan
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Friday, 28 December 2007 at 10:10 am
Let’s party like it’s 1994 (or should we?)
Buti n lang nabago ang rules regarding sweeps, the win of la salle over UE just proves that in order to be champion you need to win in a championship series. A sweep becomes just a sweep, without the title it is meaningless. No offense to the warriors. Bawi tayo next season!
Christian Soler
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Friday, 28 December 2007 at 10:39 am
That’s true UE Fan. This time, you’ve got to prove your mettle under pressure, which is really provided for by a championship series.
rodix
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Friday, 28 December 2007 at 3:54 pm
mas maganda mr.soler kapag mag merge ang ncaa at uaap para wala ng ayaw wala ng pulitika ang importante magkaisa. kami d2 sa probinsya ngpapasalamat sa SBP kasi they are starting to unite phil.basketball and kami d2 sa probinsya nabibigyan talaga ng exposure ang mga players namin d2.so i hope mag unite nlng kung pwede nga kami sumali dyan sa liga nyo sa manila mas mabuti para makakuha tayo ng mga players sa ibang lugar sa pilipinas para sa future ng basketball natin k.the CLC s a good example of a tournament that really helps developing talent kailangan grassroots level all schools should participate and i think our govt.should really help this tournament para madami schools ang sasali at may back up ang mga private firms.. so SBP good work and keep it up you have done a good job i hope next year there will be more schools competing para mas exciting…
Christian Soler
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Friday, 28 December 2007 at 4:38 pm
It’s a good move on the part of the SBP rodix. But again, we have to consider the logistical concerns that a merger between the UAAP and NCAA may pose. Again, once the details are made known to us, we will be in a better position to check out this move.
As for provincial teams playing Manila-based squads, the CNC was a good start. Also, pre-season tourney orgainzers should invite teams like UV, USC, WNC, USLS-Bacolod, MSU, Ateneo de Davao and the like. That way, basketball in the Philippines won’t be just about basketball in Manila.
mike abasolo
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Saturday, 29 December 2007 at 5:21 pm
We will talk more about this in detail very soon in a podcast, so please stay tune. In the meantime, logistically or operationally, merging both leagues, I believe, will not be a problem. There is always a way to come together and do this merger, if we want it too. Again, if we want it to. As Isaiah Thomas goes - It is not a matter of skills, its a matter of wills. It will be the political will of all the stakeholders involved that will be put to the test. No matter what they say about the impossibility of “merging” our scheds., eligibility etc. excuse. All that will just be excuses. The rest are just wills. Look out for our podcast.
Christian Soler
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Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 12:21 am
Mike my friend, I raised the “problematic” issue of logistics and the like after taking into account that in a country like this, will is always missing. If there’s a will, there’s a way, so to speak. However, experience has shown that this will has often been absent.
But again, let’s give this a chance. For now, until our next podcast, let’s take a final glance at 2007. A great year indeed, one of the more exciting ones in recent memory.
7
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Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 12:27 pm
madameng iskandalo ang ncaa this season….. hopefully, next year, maging malinis na bakuran nila….
i agree
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Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 9:33 pm
tama ka mr christian soler, naging maganda ang taon nato for both leagues.. hopefully, mas ma-improved pa nila this coming year.
Christian Soler
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Monday, 31 December 2007 at 3:12 am
7, the NCAA has to put up next year. Enough of the lip service, it’s time to hand down tough sanctions. It started out well last year by suspending Philippine Christian University, but faltered since then.
Thanks i agree. This year will be difficult to top in terms of excitement. But then again, excitement depends on the fans. If an elims sweep is exciting, then next year may be boring as I don’t see any school sweeping (San Beda in the NCAA perhaps, but none in the UAAP). If a balanced league (which was absent in the NCAA in Season 83) suits your taste, then Season 84 may well be the key to excitement.
Both ways, it’ll make for good discussion and better basketball. Cheers guys!!
Noynoy
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Tuesday, 1 January 2008 at 2:58 am
Just a suggestment:
If the ncaa and uaap will merge, i believe a format could be patterned after the nba format wherein the eastern conf champs will battle it out with the west conf champs for the nba championship. So its like the ncaa member schools will meet each other twice and meet the uaap members schools once in elims round. (and the uaap members schools likewise will meet twice each other and meet the ncaa member schools once) Top four teams in each league will figure it out in a final four and eventually best of 3 finals. Then the uaap champs will meet the ncaa champs in another best of 3 for the Ncaa/Uaap cup championship. What do you think? I think in this way Araneta coliseum will be happy, Rival schools of both leagues will still meet twice in a season and has a possibility of meeting in the finals of their respective leagues? Any comment???
kumag
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Tuesday, 1 January 2008 at 3:24 am
A DLSU VS CSB finals will be very interesting to watch! and UST vs SJLC !
Christian Soler
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Wednesday, 2 January 2008 at 12:54 pm
Noynoy, your suggestion is actually the most feasible. But once again (and as can be heard in our most recent podcast on this merger), there are a lot of other issues to be considered when dealing with this. It’s not just the format. Sure, it’s a noble idea, but it’s January ‘08, and there’s not much time to set up something as big as this proposed league.
As for kumag’s idea, yep, DLSU-CSB would be interesting, but I highly doubt CSB’s capacity to make the finals of such a tournament, should it push through. An elims matchup would be good enough.
What’s SJLC by the way? Are you referring to CSJL, or Letran?
peace
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Wednesday, 2 January 2008 at 3:02 pm
noynoy’s idea is perfect. i think this would be a perfect format if it does push through. as for now, lets just cross our fingers and hope that the merging does push through.
ELM_bedan
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Sunday, 6 January 2008 at 3:42 pm
its a good thing that the writer is replying on the comments of the avid readers of inboundpass.com.. in my personal opinion, i don’t think that merging UAAP and NCAA is a good idea.. come to think of it, rules will be changed again and everyone needs to adjust and how about the other events that NCAA schools do not cater.. it will be unfair for those schools.. Like Fencing, are you going to require the other schools to create a team… hope that UP and MAPUA think of the pros and cons eventhough the proposal is good…
Christian Soler
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Monday, 7 January 2008 at 2:01 am
Thanks for the props ELM_bedan. Yes, I agree with you, as well the more practical sentiments about the merger expressed in this Web site.
Both the NCAA and UAAP have to be more pragmatic as to their approach toward this proposal. Let’s fix the CNC, and boost the reputations of both the NCAA and UAAP, as well as other leagues like the NCRAA. For now, this is the best alternative.
Grrr!
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Tuesday, 8 January 2008 at 11:22 am
Merger is now out of the question at this point in time. But the teams of both leagues can play teams from the other division this season but still maintain their own league championships.
Let the teams in each division play each other twice and the other teams of the other league once. This would mean an additional 8 games per team. It would be very palatable to ABS –CBN as more sponsorships spots are opened up.
All games will have a bearing in determining the final 4 positions in both leagues. The championship series (semis and finals) would involve only the teams of those leagues.
This way, the NCAA and UAAP teams can battle each other out with all games important in determining the team’s place in the league standing.
Thus, the championship round will still remain to be a dedicated UAAP and NCAA affair. The asinine contention of loss of history, identity and tradition would not hold validity.
Christian Soler
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Tuesday, 8 January 2008 at 1:12 pm
All concrete signs point to a merger not happening. This brings me to an often underestimated point: Strengthening other leagues.
It’s clear that the UAAP is more well-funded by member-schools, and to some extent more popular, as evidenced by the ADMU-DLSU rivalry and the rise of other programs like UE, UST and FEU.
Having said that, shouldn’t the BAP-SBP concentrate on helping bolster the NCAA’s image, as well as that of other leagues? Save for reinforcing the CNC, which we here at inboundpass.com have been stressing, the NCAA is equally as competitive as the UAAP, as manifested by the stories it made in 2007, and thus merits as much attention. So why not fix what’s “broken” right now instead of embarking on something that’s not as practical at this point?
This is a point that readers and commentators, and even the BAP-SBP, should look into more than a merger that, right now, resembles a logistical nightmare.
Oh, and if I may add, to the readers of this post, what are your top 2K7 moments?
The Green Mind
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Tuesday, 8 January 2008 at 8:35 pm
Looks like it will be an interesting UAAP season coming up. Looks like Christian is as BLUE as I am GREEN. Welcome to the group Christian.
Just wondering why no mention of the Ateneo meltdown against NU in your top 7. I think that was 2nd biggest upset of the year. It changed the comp;exion of the Final 4.
Christian Soler
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Tuesday, 8 January 2008 at 8:44 pm
Hey Tony!! That’s true, it was a very significant part of Ateneo’s season. I just felt that including it would also necessitate, say, Kirk Long’s game-winning jumpshot that killed UST in the 2nd round of the elims, or UE’s 14th win against DLSU.
But 2007 was a great year for UAAP hoops. DLSU showed why it’s a class on its own as far as maintaining a powerhouse basketball program is concerned, while San Beda has begun its attempt to build a dynasty of some sort.
In any case, you’re right. I’m as BLUE as they get, and I know I’ll see you on the opposite side of the court at least 2 times this year. Looking forward to it Tony.
The Green Mind
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Wednesday, 9 January 2008 at 3:14 pm
There was a big difference in that Ateneo loss to NU. First and foremost, it was a big upset. Secondly, Ateneo had already made plans to go to a team building seminar in Tagaytay, meaning they were so sure of a victory.
Aside from the sweep La Salle had, that to me was the biggest upset and turning point of the season.
But of course, thats my Green Mind talking.
Christian Soler
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Wednesday, 9 January 2008 at 3:29 pm
Point taken Green Mind :)
Or maybe, just maybe, I felt that a single team’s misfortune, in this case Ateneo, wasn’t enough to merit the headlines for 2K7. Sure, it was a big upset, but I’d like to think that the DLSU loss to UE in the Warriors’ final elims game was equally as important, since it would have forced a Final Four with UST not having a twice-to-beat disadvantage.
But I take your point gladly Tony! :)
Knight fan
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 4:03 pm
Why did Letran back out of the flying V tourney last year? I was kinda disappointed when i heard of it but knew none why they didnt particpate in the event. The flying V tourney could’ve helped coach louie prepare his players develop and could have extended their finals game against san beda to three games. well after the drubbing the knights received, and with the loss of Faundo due to scholastic problems, coach louie should enter this year’s tourney.