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LITERARY critics point out that Don Quixote is one of the most brilliant pieces ever written. The tale’s title character, enamored by tales of chivalry, embarks on adventures tailor made for a knight in shining armor. In reality, however, Don Quixote was actually battling figments of his imagination in the form of windmills.

Similarly, hoops pundits and fans alike agree that University of Sto. Tomas has, post-2006, wilted in the most crucial stretches. From last year’s snafu against De La Salle University, which saw coach Pido Jarencio call a timeout with 5.5 seconds left right before a last Green Archer [team without any more timeouts] possession that eventually produced a game-winning Maui Villanueva tip-in, to consecutive losses to both La Salle and Adamson with the last Final Four berth on the line, the Growling Tigers have melted more times than a prom queen on junior/senior night.

What do both the fictional character and the squad have in common? Most often than not, they both end up battling themselves. After UST’s last game of Season 71 – a 71-63 victory over host University of the Philippines – Jarencio vented his frustration on almost everything after his unit’s 6-8 season, everything except his own team. He took exception to the calls that didn’t go his way throughout the year, and remarked that [with UP vice-chancellor Tessa Jazmines in his sights], “UP lang ang matino this season [as hosts]” before hitting the door of the Araneta Coliseum press room and leaving for his team’s locker room.

On the court, everything seems to point to the Tigers’ implosions against the league’s top teams. Pending the result of their crucial tiff with UE tomorrow [Sept. 10], they are a mediocre 1-6 against the league’s top three teams and DLSU combined, losing by an average of 12.3 points. Last season, they were 0-8 against the Final Four squads, and 6-0 versus the bottom three.

The tantrums and blowouts at the hands of the big boys show that UST isn’t facing up to their real foes: themselves. Instead of taking aim at the bigger price, this turn of events merely speaks volumes of how efficiently they’ve become at shooting themselves on the foot.

This will remain an issue whether or not UST makes the semis this time around. Championship-caliber teams don’t break down when the going gets tough. If ever such squads break something, it’s the opposing five. When push comes to shove, it’s the team that wins or loses games, not the referees, nor the quality of the opposition. Thinking otherwise will leave the country’s second-oldest learning institution waging war with themselves and those make-believe enemies.

To most, Don Quixote is a literary gem. To the Christian world, the Holy Bible is, among others, God’s Word. Chapter 6 of its last book, Revelation, depicts the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, each representing conquest, war, famine and death. The riders sow terror and usher in an era of chaos and devastation that is part and parcel of the world’s end.

NCAA Season 85 also has its own version of the Four Horsemen and a crumbling world. With still a little less than a month before the end of the elimination round, its Final Four cast is virtually sealed, with San Sebastian still undefeated, San Beda College romping away and Jose Rizal University and Colegio de San Juan de Letran not far behind. Among the last six, only Arellano University, which is currently on a three-game losing skid, has a mathematical shot at the semifinals.

While Arellano and company have made for pure viewing pleasure and a newfound excitement, the tournament’s big four has come, seen and conquered. The result? A larger-than-life, final stretch that will see all four teams play each other beginning this Friday, September 11, when JRU and Letran renew hostilities that date back to the 2007 NCAA Final Four, 1999 “Hopia Championship” and all else should you be older than me.

The Stags, in the Final Four for the first time since 2005 [Season 81], look as if they’re on a serious mission. They lead the league in opponents’ points per game [67.1], and are second in field goal percentage [46.4], field goal defense [36.6 percent] and rebounding [49.8 a game]. Plus, they have a guy named Jimbo Aquino in their lineup. San Beda, which has so far lost only to San Sebastian, has won 11 of its 13 games by double-digits. Oh, and the Red Lions top all the aforementioned categories that the Stags play runner-up in.

JRU and Letran, meanwhile, have their marquee players playing even better. John Wilson, who already erupted for 48 points against CSB a few games back, is averaging 20.3 points a game – on 49 percent shooting, an astounding figure for a guard who hoists up a ton of triples. The Knights’ Rey Guevarra, meanwhile, is norming 21 points a game in the second round of eliminations – on a torrid 64 percent shooting clip.

San Beda has been the conqueror of all for three years now. Letran has been waging war the past six years, winning the championship twice and entering the playoffs in all those six years, while JRU’s 37-year title drought is more than a famine and San Sebastian has risen from the dead.

The next few weeks will determine if the horsemen do swap horses.

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Posted in Columns, Postgame