Final 4: Each a team to beat

Bulldogs on the loose versus growling Tigers

MANILA, Philippines - Before hostilities started last June, National U coach Eric Altamirano mentioned that University of Santo Tomas ranked high in his list of “teams to beat” in a projected neck-and-neck duel for glory in the UAAP Season 76 men’s basketball tourney.

Three months and several on-court and off-court developments later, his top-ranked Bulldogs pack are facing off with the Tigers in the Final Four, expecting a fierce resistance as they seek to move forward with their quest for a first title in 59 long years.

“It will be tough (against UST). They have the experience, they were in the finals last year so they know how it is (to play under pressure situations),” said Altamirano

After years in the doghouse, the Bulldogs have come out charging into the top position in the Final Four, poised to make the most out of their twice-to-beat advantage to land in the championship series.

“Of course, it’s always an advantage having the twice-to-beat edge and we want to take full use of this opportunity,” said Altamirano.

The Tigers arranged a semis duel with NU after toppling holders Ateneo, 82-74, in the last day of elims.

“Kahit paano nasa Final Four uli at may chance makabalik sa finals. Alam ko mahirap, No. 1 team yung kalaban natin, pero pagdating sa Final Four, ibang usapan na yun, parehas na lang tayo dyan. (At least we’re back in the Final Four and have a chance to return to the finals. I know it’s gonna be tough going up against the No. 1 team but this the Final Four, it’s all back to square one now),” said UST coach Pido Jarencio.

The Bulldogs swept the Tigers in two encounters in the elims, 71-67 and 75-61, with UST skipper Jeric Teng seeing limited action due to injuries.

“Tingin ko yung second round medyo pataas kami. Although naging shaky yung first few games, sa bandang dulo, nag-pick up naman kami (I think we’re peaking in the second round. We might have a shaky start but we’ve cranked it up in the late stages),” said Teng, now back in full strength.

Altamirano concurred that a lot has happened since their elims showdowns and that the Final Four is a different battleground altogether.

“Iba ang Final Four eh, so you throw away all stats, records you had in the elims, and just have to be sharp and be prepared especially since UST is coming off a big win against Ateneo,” said Altamirano.

Interesting matchups will be imports Karim Abdul of UST against Emmanuel Mbe of NU at the paint and Bulldog ace Bobby Ray Parks Jr. versus Tiger Kevin Ferrer in the wings.

Abdul accounts for 16.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2 blocks per game for the Thomasians versus Mbe, who gives NU 14.9 markers and 11. 2 boards an outing.

Parks is good for 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steal, and 1.1 block per match but he is usually bothered by the pesky defending and psy-war tactics of Ferrer every time their teams collide.

NU versus UST is expected to be a grind-it-out type tussle between the league’s top two defensive teams. In the elims, the Bulldogs choked their opponents to 63.4 points while the Tigers held their foes down to 67.5. The Tigers made the opposing team miss a lot, limiting them to 35.4 percent field goal clip, while the Bulldogs held rivals to 35 percent shooting.

Anchored on Abdul, UST also stressed its dominance underneath with a league-best 47.8 rebounds per game. NU averaged 44.7 caroms in the elims but compensated with their quick hands (4.9 steals per game).

Revenge could play a factor for NU, too, as it was UST that foiled their Final Four bid last season. The Tigers were second seed in 2012 and quickly disposed of No. 3 Bulldogs in the semis, 63-57, for a finals appearance against eventual five-peat champs Ateneo.

Tamaraws start with bang; Archers finish with flourish

La Salle and Far Eastern figure in an explosive Final Four encounter between squads that took turns sweeping the two rounds of the UAAP Season 76 men’s basketball eliminations.

The Tamaraws brought out the broom in the first phase, an unblemished mark that provided the cushion for their semis-clinching 10-4 win-loss card. The Archers made their own clean sweep in the second round to finish with 10-4 as well.

Top dog National U carded a similar record but with a higher quotient got the No. 1 position, leaving FEU and DLSU to a dispute for the No. 2 and the other twice-to-beat semis bonus yesterday.

“It will be exciting for everyone. They’re a tough team to beat but we just got to keep on improving on a daily basis in practices and hopefully we’ll be ready for the series,” said DLSU coach Juno Sauler.

“We’re satisfied but I’m not saying andun na kami sa level na gusto namin (we’re already at the level we aspired for). We’re still working on a lot of things and we’re hoping by the time the Final Four is played, naipasok na namin lahat ng kailangan (everything is in place),” said FEU coach Nash Racela.

The two split their duels in the elims, with the Tams hacking out a come-from-behind 83-79 overtime win the first time around and the Archers getting even with a 75-66 victory in Round 2.

DLSU and FEU experienced contrasting fortunes in the elims. The Tams had a blazing start but somehow struggled in the second half of action, winning only three there. On  the other hand, the Archers were 3-4 in the first round but picked up with a sweep in the next.

“There wasn’t really any adjustments (in the second round). What we did right from the start, we just took time and just tried working on things we need to improve on. That’s what happened,” said Sauler.

Racela preferred to look at it on a different level – no first and second rounds, just 14 games.

“Let’s focus on the good rather than the  bad. On what we could do next rather than what we could have done. On 10-4 rather than 3-4 (second round),” he said.

The FEU-DLSU matchup features the league’s top offensive teams.

The Tams, with foremost scorer and MVP Terrence Romeo (22.2 ppg) as spearhead, average a league-best 79 points on a 39.7 percent field goal percentage spiked by a 28.6 percent clip from three-point area.

Not far behind are the Archers, who norm 72.9 points per outing on 39.4 shooting on the floor.

Although gunslingers Romeo, RR Garcia (12.8) and Mike Tolomia (9.4 ppg) carry the offensive burden, the Tams are still distributing the ball as shown by their league-best 15.6 assist average.

“Pag na-involve ko ang teammates ko, lumuluwag ang depensa sa akin, mas nakakdiskarte ako nang maayos (If I get my teammates involved, the defense loosens up and this allows me to move freely),” said Romeo, who gets solid support from backups like Mac Belo, Roger Pogoy, Gryann Mendoza and Carl Bryan Cruz.

La Salle, which leans on Jeron Teng, Jason Perkins, Arnold van Opstal, Almond Vosotros and Norbert Torres, is a tough defensive team, too. The Archers allow opponents 68.8 points per game and hold them to 37 percent shooting, ranking third overall in both departments.

“After seeing the (first-round) stats, our defense was really bad, although we compensated it with our three-point shooting. So we worked on that during the break and we improved  on our defense,” said Sauler.

DLSU is gunning for its first crown since 2007 while FEU is shooting for a title it last won in 2005.