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Apr 16

College Basketball Is In The Air!

by Tony L. Atayde
3,276 Views | 48 Comments

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!

 

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Posted in The Green Mind

Comments

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  • yellow_we  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Wednesday, 21 May 2008 at 9:30 pm

    Jeric may or may not be part of the Team A line up this year. For what I know there’s no final line up yet for Team A so the fate of these youngsters is still in question and of course, depends on the decision of coaching staff. Oh well, let’s just see when UAAP starts to kick off on the 5th of July.

  • The Dont Mind  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Tuesday, 20 May 2008 at 5:33 pm

    Dont mind me

    but another season of college hoops is a couple of months away.

    I seriously dont think Fortuna will suit up for UST this year. Y’know that UST doesn’t put in fresh HS grads to Team A. Even though you play like Mike, you’ll be relegated to Team B on your first year. This is one reason why players like Gabby Espinas left the den of Espana to play at Taft’s ocean.

  • Get_Blazed  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Monday, 19 May 2008 at 9:23 pm

    Amin nalang kasi si Fortuna..

  • yellow_we  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Monday, 19 May 2008 at 10:39 am

    yosi, there have been rumors too that it’s because DLSU chose LA Revilla instead over Jeric which makes the latter decide to transfer in Espana hoping to be given a team A slot for this upcoming season.

  • yosi  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Sunday, 18 May 2008 at 8:54 pm

    I remember an article published by DLSU alumni stating that ” all Thing being equal” we will get recruits from our homegrown pool. That was right after being suspended from the UAAP in season 69. It seems we have very short memory since our recruits for next UAAP season has only one homegrown talent. Maybe winning last year’s championship caused that.

    Take for example, Jeric Fortuna. Here is a a kid who is homegrown, with huge potential, passed the regular DLSUET and was already practicing with the team. Why was he left out and dropped suddenly?

    I hope the rumor or the joke going around that the reason why he was left out is because he is not illongo or closed to the illongo connections are not true.

  • yellow_we  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Saturday, 10 May 2008 at 10:18 am

    There have been reports that Jeric Fortuna is currently attending UST’s practices. Also, just recently we learned Fortuna passed the entrance exam and will enroll anytime soon so most likely there’s a big chance for this former archer to be part of the Tigers this season.

  • wuste  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Wednesday, 7 May 2008 at 6:49 pm

    Its better for Fortuna to be in DLSU team B rather than to be in UST half heartedly. Pido would like to have a player in his team where his whole “Puso” is with the team.

  • Get_Blazed  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Tuesday, 6 May 2008 at 9:34 pm

    Kind sirs, whoever here who could explain to me what the “Soc Rivera” rule is would be highly appreciated. I am not familiar with the recent rules implemented by the UAAP.

  • math01  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Monday, 5 May 2008 at 3:56 pm

    Speaking of rookies, I was shocked when I saw ex red cub Revilla playing already in the Fil Oil league under the Green Archers. This guy is a sure hit and DLSU is very lucky to have him. Although his height and size is still a big issue. I have no complains to his basketball skills.

  • kobe24  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Monday, 5 May 2008 at 12:34 pm

    mr. christian, totoo bang meroon pang tapat kay ekwe at udo ang perpetual? GUINTO and TOMACRUZ daw ang pangalan? 6″7 and 6″8 daw.. totoo po ba to? tnx

  • The Green Mind  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Sunday, 4 May 2008 at 8:58 pm

    Fortuna is still deciding whether to join DLSU in the B team. He seems to be willing to wait for next year.

  • Christian Soler  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Sunday, 4 May 2008 at 7:26 pm

    Fortuna was said to have enrolled in UST. But we have to check whether or not DLSZ gave him the “clearance” to play for the Tigers, thanks to the infamous Soc Rivera Rule.

    Also worth noting are Chris Camus and Roehl Banquicio, a former UST Tiger Cub.

  • Christian Soler  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Sunday, 4 May 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Hey Green Mind, welcome back! Speaking of UST rookies, expect a lot from point guard Allen Maliksi, off-guard Carlos Fenequito, 2-3 Carmelo Afuang and, one of your favorites, Jeric Fortuna from the 2007 juniors champs DLSZ.

    I’ll talk about them in greater detail as we move along. At least, we’re not left in the dark as to the happenings in UST.

  • The Green Mind  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Sunday, 4 May 2008 at 4:35 pm

    tygerstrypes,

    I am ooking forward to see Pido’s recruits. Like I said, there is a big advantage in not being a touted blue chip recruit. Not much attention is focused on them and this gives them a chance to play without the pressure. That’s what happened to Mirza last year.

  • tygerstripes  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Sunday, 4 May 2008 at 2:18 pm

    green mind, jervy cruz would be UST’s go to man, but you have to watch out for the UST’s rookies. they aint blue chips, but like mirza, they are all promising. go Uste

  • yellow_we  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Saturday, 3 May 2008 at 2:47 pm

    “Jojo Duncil”

    Cut it out and get a life!

    Stop using Jojo’s name here just to hide your true identity and I’m sure you’re not even a tomasian.

  • The Green Mind  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Saturday, 3 May 2008 at 9:15 am

    You own the UAAP? Hmmm, sounds like a landgrabber. You dont own the UAAP basketball tournament by winning 1 championship and appearing in 2 finals in the past decade. You used to own it but not anymore.

    DLSU has won 5 of the last 10 championships. FEU has won 3 while Ateneo and UST has won 1 each. If and when you go back to the glory years of the md 90s then you can lay claim.

    Now, if you mean overall championships, I give that to UST.

  • Jojo Duncil  Add karma Subtract karma  +0
    Thursday, 1 May 2008 at 5:29 am

    Catch me if you can can Mr. Green Mind. We own the UAAP.

    Jojo Duncil is alive. A dead horse no more.

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Tony L.
Tony L. Atayde

Very Opinionated. Very Green. Hate him. Love Him. It does not matter and he does not care. A Howard Stern in cyberspace. He bleeds Green, He is purely from La Salle – as a former writer and Assistant Vice President for Events of the DLSU Alumni Association. Played basketball and was on the track and field team for La Salle during the NCAA just don't ask what year.