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FEU fell into the same hole that Ateneo did last year. With a chance to come out ahead of the pack in the first round, they lost steam and bowed to the previously winless National University.

The Bulldogs, who have become my 2nd favorite team after they beat Ateneo last year, proved that they cannot be taken lightly. FEU just ran out of gas as they have been playing hard in their last 2 games.

In the other game, Ateneo played a much better game than UST but the Growling Tigers stayed close until the last 2 minutes of the game. Ateneo blew the game wide open in the last 3 minutes with clutch hits by Jai Reyes.

If you look at the stats of that game without looking at the score, you would have thought that Ateneo blew UST away.

What a week of basketball! FEU beats Ateneo, UP beats Adamson, UE beats La Salle and NU beats FEU. Looks like it will be a very interesting 2nd round, starting with the La Salle – UE rematch this coming Thursday.

I cannot say enough at how the referees have negatively affected the games. I notice for example that there are 128 players in the seniors’ division and there is one set of rules for 127 and a different set of rules for Chris Tiu. It seems as if an opposing player cannot even look at him without getting a foul.

The officiating today was as bad as it can get. For example, in a Chris Tiu fastbreak, the UST player went after the ball in an attempt to block the shot. But instead of getting a regular foul, Camus, the UST player, was assessed with a flagrant foul. This gave Chris Tiu 2 foul shots plus the possession to Ateneo. Even the television broadcasters were questioning that and a few other calls.

Tiu has been seen complaining about calls all season. If that were any of the other 127 players, they would have at least gotten a warning. Al-Hussaini was given a warning for complaining about a call in today’s game.

In last Thursday’s game against FEU, Tiu was very slightly hit by Barroca which appeared was initiated by Tiu himself. However, Tiu flops and the refs give Barroca a flagrant foul. The thing is that Tiu is a smart player and he knows the refs will call a foul when he flops. So he takes advantage of it. If I were in his place, I would probably do the same thing. It is the referees that need to be told and reprimanded of this unfair advantage.

La Salle’s Marko Batricevic is out for the season with a possible career ending ACL injury. Anyone who knows Marko will tell you that he is a really good kid and this is very unfortunate. The question is how did this happen? With proper treatment and rehabilitation, ACL injuries are not supposed to recur.

Simon Atkins will be getting an MRI on Monday, after he banged his head early in the game against UE. He has been having terrible headaches and has been unable to sleep because of this. The preliminary diagnosis is “whiplash�, which similar to what one get when involved in a car accident. La Salle needs Atkins if it wants to continue with its title defense.

Japs Cuan is sorely missed by UST. If he does not return soon, it may be too late for the Growling Tigers to make a move to get into the Final Four. Cuan’s knee was operated on and is expected to be out for at least another 2 or 3 weeks. If he is out for 2 weeks, he will be missing at least 3 more games.

The Commissioner Almighty’s mantra which is “it did not affect the outcome of the game�, is getting to be too predictable. If things that occur during the first 38 minutes do not affect the outcome of the game, then why not just play a 2 minute game. Every second of the game affects the ultimate outcome. This mantra was again used today when the UAAP Board rejected UE’s appeal.

Word has it that the recent acquisition of National University by Mr. Henry Sy, will bring a lot of positive changes to the school. Junel Baculi has been appointed Atletic Director. Rumor has it that Manny Dandan may be replaced by either Baculi or Jorge Gallent, who is now coaching San Sebastian.

More rumors are circulating that the Bulldogs will be getting some foreign players from China. If this is true, expect National University to end its role as favorite whipping boys of the UAAP. Personally, I think this will be great for the league.

So now it’s on to the second round. Expect the unexpected. The only thing that will remain the same will be the horrible officiating.

Tags: Adamson-Falcons, Ateneo-Blue-Eagles, Chris-Tiu, De-La-Salle-Green-Archers, FEU-Tamaraws, NU-Bulldogs, Petron, UAAP, UE-Red-Warriors, University-of-Sto.-Tomas-Growling-Tigers, UP-Fighting-Maroons

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Posted in The Green Mind