Ateneo pulls off escape act over FEU
Monday, 13 July 2009 5,787 Views / 180 Comments
ATENEO DE MANILA University’s championship mettle was put to the test – one that it passed.
The Blue Eagles proved to be the more composed team down the stretch as they held off a late Far Eastern University charge, 63-59, in UAAP Season 72 opening weekend action at the Araneta Coliseum last July 12.
Ateneo sophomore Ryan Buenafe’s split charities from the free throw line with 13.6 seconds left proved to be the game-winner as Tamaraws rookie guard RR Garcia botched a contested three-pointer that would have sent the game into overtime.
Season 72 Most Valuable Player Rabeh Al-Hussaini converted on a couple of crucial baskets down the stretch that gave the Blue Eagles a seven-point edge, 61-54, after FEU had staged a rally to knot the game at 54-all. Al-Hussaini, playing in his final year, scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Before that sequence, Ateneo seemed to have the game under control, leading by as many as 12, 37-25, after a Nico Salva triple with 2:14 left in the first half. FEU veterans Aldrech Ramos and Mark Barroca, though, brought the Tams back to life. All in all, Ramos and Barroca tallied 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Aiding the cause of the defending champions was Nonoy Baclao, who, despite being held scoreless, caromed 11 boards and swatted away five FEU shots. Returnee Emman Monfort was also a key cog off the bench, scoring eight points.
After the game, Ateneo coach Norman Black said, “We played pretty well in the first half. This is not a statement game because coming into the game, we knew we will be playing the toughest team in the league today, and this is a confidence booster that we beat them. FEU is very athletic and I’m glad we were able to match up with it. I hope we win a lot more. [Also, Monfort] has been playing really well in practice and I’m glad he delivered today.â€
The scores:
Ateneo 63 – Al-Hussaini 18, Buenafe 10, Salva 9, Salamat 8, Monfort 8, Reyes 7, Long 3, Golla 0, Chua 0, Baclao 0, Austria 0.
FEU 59 – Ramos 15, Barroca 12, Noundou 9, Garcia 8, Cervantes 6, Cawaling 4, Sanga 3, Knuttel 2, Exciminiano 0, Eguilos 0, Caluag 0.
Quarter scores: 17-11, 40-29, 50-47, 63-59.
(6 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)
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ayos lang may 2nd round naman para bumawi.
Let’s Go Tamaraw! Let’s Go!
Until yesterday, the FEU Tamaraws were touted to be the strongest team on paper. Now, the “hype” behind the Tamaraws was broken by no less than the defending champions, the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
To give this one a relatively simple analysis, Ateneo is deeper than FEU from the backcourt to the front-line. If not for the heroics of Blue Eagle guards Eman Monfort, Eric Salamat and Jai Reyes; and sophomore small forward Ryan Buenafe, it would have been a lost cause for the Blue Eagles. The outside shots from Monfort and Reyes; the set-up of Al-Hussaini at the post; and the successful checking of FEU forward JR Cawaling by Ateneo’s defense proved to be the main ingredients of the Blue Eagles’ victory over the Tamaraws.
As for the Tamaraws, the Andy Barroca-Aldreich Ramos duo were really effective. Barroca would just set-up Ramos or, whenever there is the opportunity to do so, Barroca himself would take matters into his own hands. Apart from Barroca, Ramos, Cawaling, Reil Cervantes, RR Garcia, Pipo Noundou and Paul Sanga, Glenn Capacio could not count on his own bench. FEU may have the size but they are not as deep as Ateneo.
An interesting side note to this game: the Baclao vs. Ramos blocking contest. Baclao may zero points on his name but he was able to secure too many blocks and too many rebounds to be an asset to Norman Black when it comes to defense.
One more thing, by the way. I love to see the vast improvement of Nico Salva and Eman Monfort. Ateneo did a good job on developing these two guys given the way they played against FEU yesterday.
another game decided by refs. TAMS the usual victim just like the previous season. there should be a no foul called on knuttel on their trapping defense on ryan buenafe in the final sec of the game. tams doesnt want to foul but the refs wants to call it!
I agree with P3nBall.
Still, my congratulations to Ateneo for winning the ball game.
In the end, Tams will still emerged as 2009 UAAP Baskteball Champs!
GO fight Tams!
P3nBall
on the other hand, Rabeh was fouled and abused a lot of times in the post, even before he attempted shots. No calls.
Look, you can’t expect the refs to be perfect. They are still humans, they make mistakes. But one thing’s for sure, it wasn’t a fixed game. Ateneo still proved itself to be the better team, immediately breaking the so-called “FEU hype”.
But this game is a statement, once again proving offseasons do not matter that much.
1st game ?
tsss….
i just loved how Ramos swatted shots empathically. They were show time blocks. The best of all was when Husseini almost cried when he was knocked on the floor with a clean block.
I feel FEU is still the stronger team, they just had an off day and Ateneo made many of their 3 point shots in the first half.
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@grasshopper
Yes, I agree. Those were excellent shot blocks. The Ateneo Way compels me to give credit where it’s due. Those are the reasons why he was last year’s #1 shot blocker and it looks like he’s in contention for this year too. ‘Good job’ to that young man!
Can I just say that I’ve always liked going against FEU, because they have good spirit and sportsmanship. Their athletes are generally gentlemen and they are hardworkers.
Thank you very much and good luck to everyone this season!
tssss. excuses. this wasnt decided by the ref. RR missed a three to tie it. that call on knuttel wasnt so bad. the thing is even if no foul was called, the ball was already on its way to jai reyes. excuses. you’re just mad that you lost your first game in a league that yall are supposed to dominate this year.
the biggest flaw for feu? they do not have a leader yet. barocca is a great player but he isnt a leader, well at least not yet.
@grasshopper
“I feel FEU is still the stronger team, they just had an off day and Ateneo made many of their 3 point shots in the first half.”
i strongly agree with this. parang di lang talaga maswerte FEU kahapon. 4 pts. nga lang si cawaling eh.
pero natuwa ako sa game lalo na sa last minutes. pang finals na.
notch win no.1 for us!
wow, people are still saying that the refs decided the outcome of the game. can’t quite accept defeat e? i think the calls were pretty consistent on both sides, and i’d say it was a decent-called game.
those who doubted ateneo’s bench are definitely eating their own words. almost half of admu’s points came from their bench players. kudos to buenafe, salva and monfort for stepping up.
“parang di lang talaga maswerte FEU kahapon.” talagang hindi se-swertehin yung FEU kahapon because of ateneo’s excellent D. i find it ridiculous that people still refuse to give credit to ateneo’s team defense. above everything else, that team D was the factor that won us the championship last year. after watching yesterday’s game, i’m confident that ateneo’s defensive edge is still there.
“parang di lang talaga maswerte FEU kahapon.†talagang hindi se-swertehin yung FEU kahapon because of ateneo’s excellent D.
ha-ha!
A mediocre opening for feu….
then looses to admu!
GO ATENEO!
Good game. It looks like it’ll be a good season.
I’ll nitpick on something though, what I didn’t like was the opening schedule. My impression was, the schedule (for Sat and Sun) was setup such that it’s the projected 1-seed vs projected 2-seed (FEU & ADMU, not in any order =D), projected 3-seed vs projected 4-seed (DLSU & UE), projected 5-seed vs projected 6-seed (UST & ADU), and projected bottom two (UP & NU). Of course, the season will still be played and it’ll probably end up aligned that way (that is what sports is about, btw =D), but still, I’m not comfortable when the league ‘pre-classifies’ teams.
Typo on my post above:
* Of course, the season will still be played and it’ll probably WON’T end up aligned that way
…then it goes like this:
admu 12-2
ue 10-4
nu 8-6
feu 8-6
ust 7-7
adu 6-8
dlsu 1-13
up 0-14
GINOOOWBILI, it’s the same opening schedule we’ve had for a looong time now. It’s based on the results of the previous season: 1st vs 3rd (Ateneo vs FEU), 2nd vs 4th (DLSU vs UE). Quit with the conspiracy mindset.
praise the lord…i know it will be the ateneo who will won…
@PaulieWalnuts. Haha yeah, point taken.
@bluest. I hope that one win from dlsu is against admu =D. Happy na dlsu kung ‘ganon. Haha peace pare.
lol. we’ll see.
“hope that one win from dlsu is against admu”
** in an overtime. lol.
good luck pare.
then the other loss of admu is from nu. lol.
possible.
then the the other loss of admu is from nu. lol.
possible.
Hahaha
Is this your fearless prediction for the UAAP season results? Mind to put a wager against your brilliant prediction???
“I feel FEU is still the stronger team, they just had an off day and Ateneo made many of their 3 point shots in the first half.â€
no, FEU is not the stronger team.
Kita niyo naman ang mga nagstep up sa bench diba?
– which is ang tinira na kahinaan ng Ateneo.
Tha game proved four things:
1.) offseason is offseason, when the real season begins, everybody becomes serious.
2.) ateneo has the now strongest lineup at least 1 to 8. Kasi dati laging strongest starting lineup lang. Minaliit ang lineup ng FEU. Magaling lang FEU sa mas mahihinang teams.
3.) Buenafe is better than Cawaling.
4.) Ateneo still has the best defense. It was applied against FEU, the so-called contender.
5.) If FEU can’t beat Ateneo, who can?
hahahahhahaha.
BACK TO BACK!
@bluest
Is this your fearless prediction for the UAAP season results? Mind to put a wager against your brilliant prediction???
Or baka naman Loyola hangin lang ito, kasi I know I can bet for sure LS will win more than 1 game alam mo naman sa UAAP hwag masyadong mayabang kasi the first game of the season does not reflect what will happen the whole season. Looks like you have short term selective memory forgetting what happened two years ago when LS lost all regular games and won both games against Ateneo in the semi finals…for both juniors and seniors.
P3nBall
I can’t believe that the officiating would still be an issue here. Is Cawaling really that good an actor so as to convince spectators that the ref’s calls are bad? As far as I remember he is the only player from FEU who OVERREACTS when refs blow whistles at him. What about Ramos and Cervantes? They got 4 fouls each and yet they showed no overreaction, only the expression of wanting to make up to their mistake.
Instead of blaming that the refs cooked the game, or that most calls were favorable for ADMU, why don’t you just COMMEND your FEU players for their efforts?
Ateneo simply outworked them this time. Hindi kabawasan yun sa galing at sa talent ng FEU team mo.
@greenest
Loyola Hangin lang yan. Hindi naman lahat ng Atenista ganyan kayabang. Although syempre meron pa rin, apparently, like bluest. :D
@ bluest thanks for the comment. I thought so.
Congrats on the FEU game. Your team looks very very good this year! Everybody knew what they were doing on court even Monfort and Salva.
@ Ecthelion thanks for the comment. I thought so.
Congrats on the FEU game. Your team looks very very good this year! Everybody knew what they were doing on court even Monfort and Salva.
@greenest
Thanks for the praise on our team. Honestly, I was glad not by the fact that we won, but due to the fact that almost everyone showed composure and wit during that game, even if the opponent was harassing them from both ends. Bihira ko makita sa mga Blue Eagles yun.
As for the Archers, I hope the rebuilding process goes through very well. Must say that your big men really has to step up, especially Ferdinand. For all the hype about him, Bringas is still a rookie, and therefore people shouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t contribute much. But Ferdinand has no excuse not to step up. He’s already a veteran but still looks clueless on the court last game.
@greenest
@Ecthelion
this is ridiculous! did i say anything wrong?
according to TGM there is no such thing as 100% prediction.
why dont you make your own? can’t you?
14-0 is impossible. they’ll lose a game for sure. eitehr to ue of feu. if they dominated feu, pwede ba sigurong sabihinh may posibilidad yun. pero hindi. with what i saw with lasalle, there’s no way they are going to beat ateneo this year. lasalle always had a player who could take it to another level in the past years, ritualo, cortez, cardona, yeo, tang, casio. now they don’t. i think ateneo and feu will end up with 12-2 or 11-3 records.
@Ecthelion
My humble observation for LS: Too many coaches on the bench. I love Dindo and I would never question his Animo spirit as I was witness to the 1986-88 season but I think they have to settle the boys down, Talent is there, they were just “thinking too much” not playing. Masyadong takot maglaro. They still need to gel and that includes the new coaching staff. Still a LONG season ahead so we’ll see how it plays out. Word in our community is Ferdinand still injured all heart na lang on the floor. I saw some new big man moves pero malayo pa rin. Dont worry the boys will put up a better show come Ateneo-LS…they always put up a good show.
to hula hop:
“If FEU can’t beat Ateneo, who can?”
UE RED WARRIORS WILL SURELY BEAT THEM ON THURSDAY!
WATCH OUT FOR THIS GAME!
remember, one of the strongest contender for the title for this UAAP season 72 is the red warriors… who knows? bilog ang bola! i think it’s not fair na sabihin natin that UAAP is all about ateneo & la salle! well, i have nothing against these teams ‘coz proven na nman sila eh! i salute these 2 teams for their exceptional talent in basketball! pero sana, we should not forget that there are other teams na magagaling din nman!
let’s just wait for the finale of this season… ;]
BAKIT NAG LARO ANG TWO FOREIGN PLAYERS NG ATENEO AT THE SAME TIME? PWEDE BA YUN? DI BA DAPAT ONE AT A TIME?
Sweeping the elimination round is nothing if a team can’t prove itself during the playoffs.I did remember when UE swept the elims 2 years ago with 14-0 clean slate yet they lost in the finals against La Salle.FEU, Ateneo, UE and UST will be title contenders this year but watch out for the dark horse team of NU Bulldogs .La Salle was badly hurt by the absence of its key players who graduated already and it will be a tough season for them, but, who knows, they might pull a surprise too!
IM REFERRING TO RABAH & LONG.
@ bluest
Never mind. Pero easy lang sa predictions, brad. People minds can go off if you predict something disadvantageous for them. Which leads me, no, I don’t want to predict anything as of now. :D
@ greenest
I just hope it’s a good show of basketball, less the drama. It just takes up too much time that the games would often end at 7pm. :D
@ heckler
Rabah is NOT a foreign player. Ateneo’s foreign players are Kirk Long and Vince Burke.
@ bluest
Never mind. Pero easy lang sa predictions, brad. People’s minds can go off if you predict something disadvantageous for them. Which leads me, no, I don’t want to predict anything as of now. :D
@ greenest
I just hope it’s a good show of basketball, less the drama. It just takes up too much time that the games would often end at 7pm. :D
@ heckler
Rabah is NOT a foreign player. Ateneo’s foreign players are Kirk Long and Vince Burke.
@ bluest
Never mind. Pero easy lang sa predictions, brad. People’s minds can go off if you predict something disadvantageous for them. Which leads me, no, I don’t want to predict anything as of now. :D
@ greenest
I just hope it’s a good show of basketball, less the drama. It just takes up too much time that the games would often end at 7pm. :D
@ heckler
Rabah is NOT a foreign player. Ateneo’s foreign players are Kirk Long and Vince Burke.
see… its their problem, too sensitive…
my website b pra mapnood yung live game ng uaap and ncaa? thanks
What was the score of the Final 4 game last year between UE and ADMU if the UE fans care to remember?
Before you even think of beating admu this year, just look what happend last year and to think both team has remained almost the same and you even changed the coach which is….. hhhhmmmmm
guys san websit ulit ma-check ng live game ng UAAP and NCAA nkalimutan ko n pero meron dti eh blog yta yun o soemthing. slamt!
LOLS , justin tv sometimes do broadcast live games.Check it out on the net.
can you give me the direct like for that kalabaw> thanks