Tigers fierce but Bulldogs to bite back

Parks calls ’em bad boys; Eric says UST played well

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed National U Bulldogs have been driven to the wall by a rival so pesky that top gun Bobby Ray Parks even compared them to the “Bad Boys” of the 80s – the Detroit Pistons.

And the Bulldogs can blame their failure to match the ferocity and poise of fourth-ranked University of Santo Tomas Tigers in a 62-71 setback that sent their UAAP Season 76 men’s basketball Final Four duel down into a KO for a finals berth this Saturday.

“UST really showed their championship experience. Obviously, we got intimidated early in the first quarter and we lost our discipline,” NU coach Eric Altamirano said.

“It’s hard to come back in the second half with a big deficit. Hopefully, we’ll correct those mistakes come the second game, Yung mindset namin, we have to be prepared to handle that kind of intimidation and physicality,” he added.

Except for major uprising in the payoff period that made it a five-point ball game, the fired up and physical Tigers basically ran the entire show against a rather tame Bulldogs side.

“It’s not really the pressure. Nagulat lang kami sa first quarter (they surprised us in the first quarter), UST started very aggressive on defense. I felt we did not adjust well to it. Lost our composure and game; we forced shots, it created lot of transition for UST,” said Altamirano.

“For me it’s not about intimidation, we came out passive.  I think we came out too relaxed,” said Parks, who was limited to 14 points and hurt his left wrist during the game. “We just got to bounce back and be aggressive and come out with the sense of urgency.”

Parks slammed the too-physical-for-comfort defending by UST’s Kevin Ferrer, whom he tagged as his personal “Detroit.”

“Hey, my dad’s been through a lot of players like that. Michael Jordan had Detroit. This is my Detroit right here,” said Parks, alluding to Jordan’s rivalry with the “Bad Boys” of the 1980s and 1990s Pistons.“That’s just the easiest way to say it.”

He rued what he felt was Ferrer’s dirty tactics, claiming the UST third-year player had grabbed his injured wrist and finger when he reentered the game.

“I don’t know what to say… Just a little too low,” he said, adding that even Emmanuel Mbe was complaining that his defender “grabbed his balls” during one play.

“Yeah, you have to give it to them; they played odd defense, how they defended Ray and Mbe,” said Altamirano.

Ferrer, who has been getting under the skin of Parks since they entered the league three seasons ago, said it was a challenge to try to stop the two-time MVP.

“I don’t want to give any excuses. Let’s just call it as it is UST played really sharp and well today (yesterday) and they shot the ball really well too,” said Altamirano.