College Basketball Is In The Air!
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Take a deep breath. College basketball is in the air. The pre-season tournaments have started and now we will get a peek at how recruitment went in the UAAP.
The Green Mind is back and even greener than ever. Norman Black was supposed to have had a banner recruitment year, bagging Buenafe, Salva, Chua and Vincent Burke. I am surprised that Coach Norman got 2 foreigners playing different positions? With Kirk Long at guard and Vincent Burke a big man, Coach Black can’t play them at the same time.
That was exactly what happened with Long and Laterre last year. If you have forgotten, Long and Laterre were on the court at the same time but the almighty UAAP board felt that it did not affect the outcome of the game so it was okay.
But Ateneo lost to San Beda in the Filoil tournament opener recently and their rookies didn’t show much yet. They better start getting into the groove of things fast because with Arao gone, only Chris Tiu is left to carry this team.
UE will be coming back with an almost intact line-up, so that will be an interesting team to watch. With one Finals series tucked under their belt, maybe this year they will win when it matters. The biggest obstacle UE faced was the perfect regular season. They did not know how to come back from a loss and that bit them in the butt in the finals.
FEU is also coming back with an almost intact line-up and I like this team. Even last year I felt that they just lacked maturity. What a difference a year makes so expect the Tamaraws to put the pressure on the rest of the league.
UST will still have Jervy Cruz. He will be more dominant and will most likely bag another MVP title. When a team has a player like Jervy in its line-up, they are always a threat to any opponent they play.
UP may start to show some improvement but I am not sure if it will be enough to get to the Final Four.
Adamson, and NU lost key players to graduation are not going to show much this year. But after all they did for La Salle last year, I will be always be cheering for the Bulldogs (except when they play La Salle).
Now on to the defending UAAP CHAMPIONS, De La Salle University. Their rookies looked solid in their victory against JRU recently. Casio was just unstoppable!
Webb and Villanueva seem to be a perfect fit. Of course the main man of the team is still Coach Franz Pumaren who seems to always find a way to blend his players into one cohesive unit.
While I am sitting back and watching my favorite NBA team, the Boston Celtics, take their best record into the NBA playoffs, I will also be watching the progress of the pre-season collegiate tournaments. Some say these pre-season games are meaningless. But if my memory serves me right, the team that won both the Nike and Filoil tournaments last year also won the UAAP championship.
What school was that again? Maybe I should bring out my baking recipes soon. Who knows, I may end up offering cake again!
Tags: Adamson, Ateneo, blue-eagles, Bulldogs, Falcons, FEU, fighting-maroons, Green-Archers, Growling-Tigers, La-Salle, NU, Officiating, Petron, Philippine-College-Basketball, Sprint, Tamaraws, The-Green-Mind, UAAP, UP, UST
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nick
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Sunday, 27 April 2008 at 4:12 pm
hi!! sang channel po ba mapapanood fil-oil preseason invi games?? khit replay n lng… thnx po..
rob
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Friday, 25 April 2008 at 12:24 pm
“You are absolutely right about the inefficiencies of the UAAP Board. They have a Commissioner who has no powers, a technical committee that has vague powers and a board with too much power.
Also, the UAAP Board is answerable to no one. Unlike the NCAA who has an Executive Council made up of the Presidents of all the member schools, the UAAP Board is a closely walled society that has no accountability.”
Tumpak!!! yan ang problema ng UAAP
The Green Mind
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 10:49 pm
Spoof,
You are absolutely right about the inefficiencies of the UAAP Board. They have a Commissioner who has no powers, a technical committee that has vague powers and a board with too much power.
Also, the UAAP Board is answerable to no one. Unlike the NCAA who has an Executive Council made up of the Presidents of all the member schools, the UAAP Board is a closely walled society that has no accountability.
spoof
+0
Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 9:20 pm
The Green Mind -
I think one culprit regarding of the inconsistency of the rule is the reactionary measures made by the board to certain situations. Where the rule is actually made first, then the implementing guidelines, sanctions, etc. are made at their convenient time.
Thus, it is subject to interpretation and during game time the technical committees are unable to make a decision on the matter (which reminds me — the technical committee should handle all the rule implementations and not the board.)
Second, matters such as falsification, misrepresentation, etc. should be pursued regardless of anything. In this day where there will always be doubt on the credibility of a player, the UAAP board should intensify its efforts at least to get the credibility of the organization back.
One way to do this is to hire an external party to review the eligibility of all incoming freshmen/transferees at least. Many companies nowadays employ third parties to do clarifications/investigations on prospective employees. It will probably take just take 1 green/blue game to pay for this. :)
Oh yeah — don’t get me started on the tickets. :)
Anyway, ang sarap talaga ng pakiramdam na palapit ng palapit na ang UAAP. I’d say DLSU / UST / UE / ADMU as the most likely final four. But I also expect FEU to give one of the 4 a run for their money or completely knock one out.
whamos
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 11:05 am
you’re right, The Green Mind! college basketball is back, that’s why i’m back from my 7-month hiatus (call it work)..haha!
The Green Mind
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 9:54 am
The rationale behind the 2 foreigners per team rule is that by allowing an unlimited number of foreign players into a collegiate team, it takes away athletic scholarships from Filipinos.
However, if you allow 2 foreigners per team, I do not see the rationale on why they cannot both play at the same time.
mr left
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Tuesday, 22 April 2008 at 9:45 pm
siguro, isipin nalang naten na may mga pinoy din na gustong makapaglaro sa ibang bansa (e.g japeth aguilar of ateneo)… ayaw din naman naten sila i-discriminate ng iba sa bansa ng kanila pinaglalaruan..
mike
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Tuesday, 22 April 2008 at 9:08 pm
Hi truth,
Actually you are correct and it does set a racial tone. Let’s give our visiting students a more politically correct word, let’s call them Overseas students.
These overseas students came here to study and mingle with us, they do their best to belong. For them to play here is a grateful gesture so Truth is right and let’s cut them (overseas students) some slack.
truth
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Monday, 21 April 2008 at 1:45 pm
the green mind,
what i was also driving at is that varsity players are supposed to represent their school. whether one is a foreigner or not, he or she is just as having the same rights as any student of that school. barring a foreign student from having the same rights as any filipino student is downright racist, in reverse. and besides, this just gives more value to foreign players because it tends to carry along with that rule the “mindset” that they are better than the locals when in fact, that can always be disproven, at least in the uaap or ncaa.
i think the rule originally came about to sort of even out the fighting chances of other schools, especially during that time la salle was winning it all. it’s not la salle’s fault that it has more resources when it comes to recruiting players, local or foreign. and la salle takes its sports program very seriously. la salle built up its reputation, both in sports and academics, thru the years and all schools could have done the same thing if they were not lazy or complacent. now they want to steal the hard work la salle went thru by coming up with such stupid rules.
these very same rules hounded the others (ateneo - laterre/long) as well but they won’t apply it to themselves. such double standards. (although it was a different matter, the duncil tampered birth certificate issue is one other example of double standards. falsification of documents.)
thing is that they cannot really put down a good team. the la salle green archers are the champs and will always be.
The Green Mind
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Monday, 21 April 2008 at 9:45 am
Truth,
I completely agree with you in that it’e either you allow them both to play or you stick to the rule of 1 foreign player at a time. My point is that the rule should either be implemented or removed. It cannot be implemented with exceptions. Rules are suppose to be absolute unless exceptions are made as part of the rules themselves.
The precedence 18 years ago that favored La Salle was wrong and the evnets last year with Ateneo was likewise wrong. The decision of the UAAP board was not the fault of either school but is a symptom of waht ails the UAAP board.
In terms of operations and organization, the NCAA beats the UAAP by a mile.
truth
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Monday, 21 April 2008 at 6:52 am
in the first place, the rule on disallowing two foreigners inside the court at the same time should be removed. this is not a pro league. long and laterre are just like any other filipino basketball player.
hindi naman natin kasalanan if most foreign recruits end up green or blue. mas maraming resources lang talaga ang la salle and ateneo in getting foreign students to study there and also because of the quality of education they provide.
imagine, foreigner ka and you end up where the school color is PINK!
blue&green
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Sunday, 20 April 2008 at 11:45 pm
sir,
i think the decision of the board is actually a good one since there’s already a precedent. if ateneo lost that decision, then they will bring the incident 18 years ago where dlsu committed the same error but still got the W. i think it would have been unfair to ateneo if dlsu got a different ruling on a very similar case.
i am only talking about the 2 foreigners incident. i wholeheartedly agree with you regarding duncil. actions should have been (or be) taken.
The Green Mind
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Sunday, 20 April 2008 at 2:55 pm
Pink whatever,
I miss those antagonistic comments. Sorry if this is in English and you may not be able to understand.
The thing is that DLSU keeps playing and winning championships regardless of all the obstacles.
gabriel
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 at 3:07 pm
hi! green…
thanks for the nice comment on UE… but personally… last year was our best chance to capture the crown.
this time around… a final four stint is good… reaching the finals is better… but winning it? i doubt, hahaha!
but another UE - DLSU final would be nice… who knows we might pull some surprises.
The Green Mind
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 at 8:56 am
One more thing! I really don’t buy this “it did not affect the outcome of the game” rationale. The question is simply whether a rule was violated or whether it was not. There is no caveat in the rule book that states “unless it does not affect the outcome of the game”.
The Green Mind
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 at 8:51 am
blue & green,
18 years ago, La Salle did not have as many championships and Finals appearance as it has now. As it got stronger, the UAAP board has become more critical of DLSU.
Now it seems that there are 2 sets of rules in the UAAP. One set applies to La Salle and the other set applies to the rest of the league.
A good example is the Duncil incident last year. Nobody did any further investigating on the alleged tampered birth certificate. If Duncil were playing in La Salle, a full blown investigation would have surely ensued.
blue&green
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 11:44 pm
sir green mind,
isn’t it true that the same incident happened 18 years ago, where DLSU fielded in two foreigners (Lago, a US citizen during that time , and Espinosa, if i’m not mistaken)? Ateneo protested and DLSU got the same ruling as Ateneo got last year, again, if i’m not mistaken. the same reason was used by the board the “it didn’t affect the outcome of the game” reason.
The Green Mind
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 5:51 pm
If La Salle committed that “2 foreigners on the court” fiasco, the decision would have come out the next day that La Salle would have to forefeit all its games since it joined the UAAP. But in the end it just makes the championship even sweeter.
Animo La Salle
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 4:57 pm
yes! pag La Salle, parati nalang silang nadaya. Kung sa atin nagkasabay ang two foreigners sa court for sure talo na agad sa decision ng board.
The Green Mind
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 4:45 pm
Hey Charlie! From my mind to my heart, its all green.
Charlie
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 2:56 pm
Don’t you all love the way Tony’s mind is really GREEN??? Imagine…LaSalle na, Boston Celtics pa! How green can one’s mind be? College basketball in the air! Don’t we all just love it!
yellow_we
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 1:11 pm
The Green Mind,
Absolutely! Though I’m not really sure about the true reason why my school had to withdraw in the said tourneys, I have these thoughts at the back of my head telling me that the real battle is just yet to happen. And the legion of black gold, black white is having themselves prepared in their some own ways.
By the way, I saw Malabes and Batricevic in the crowd during the DLSU and JRU encounter not suited. Any news about them? Not really sure… And also how about Ferdinand?
The Green Mind
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 8:40 am
Yellow _we,
I agree with you that it sucks big time when a school withdraws this late. Its always nice to watch a team grow and become better. Last year many thought that La Salle had played too many pre-season games but that proved to be what made them so physically fit to endure that very much extended season.
Keep checking on the site.
The Green Mind
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Friday, 18 April 2008 at 8:38 am
John I,
Thanks for the welcome. Regarding a comaprison between the recruits of Ateneo and La Salle, it may be tooearly to tell. However, being highly publicized recruits like Buenafe, Salva and Chua puts a lot of pressure on them as all all eyes are watching.
La Salle’s recruits on the other hand have a better opportunity to grow since they are not in the public eye. I really like Webb, Villanueva and Revilla. They are a perfect fit into the mix of the veterans.
yellow_we
+0
Friday, 18 April 2008 at 8:25 am
And so the Green Mind is back!
Hey sir, I was able to watch that DLSU vs. JRU game. I was impressed with rookies Villanueva and Revilla. I have seen Villanueva crashing some boards against Sena while Revilla slashing hard going for the basket like a quick mouse. And oh- that spectacular cross over that made the crowd cheer more for the whole green squad, simply fantastic!
I am not sure as for my school. They have withdrawn both in Filoil and Nike Summer League tourneys. It sucks bigtime! I would love to see a green vs. yellow game again. Well, UAAP is just around the corner but I hope the wait will be worth it.
John I
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 10:42 pm
Animo,
Mr. Green Mind can you compare the quality of the Archer’s recruits with the quality of the Eagle rookies? There’s too much hype about the Ateneo rookies.
Welcome back, looking forward to more write-ups from the green mind.
John I
The Green Mind
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 9:07 pm
Animo La Salle,
Its not that they can’t accept defeat. They just can’t accept that La Salle beat them. This year will be fun. UE will still be strong but then again they were strong last year. As for our friends from Katipunan, I hope they got over the 2 is better than 3 lesson they got last year.
Animo La Salle
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 3:58 pm
Nice one Green Mind! We missed your posts. looking forward to reading more if it in the coming days, weeks, months. Yes, that’s exactly the treatment that La Salle gets when we win games. Some people just can’t accept defeat.
The Green Mind
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 3:25 pm
Thanks Dave Q. Its good to be back. I bet Im going to start hearing the whiners again. Whenever their teams lose to DLSU they blame refs, the officials, the weather, the government and everything conspiracy they can think off.
Dave Q
+0
Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 3:03 pm
Welcome back The Green Mind! We missed you.
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