La Salle remains the hottest team in the league after racking up six straight victories. Jeron Teng just beasted out reminiscent of his mama days as a Xavier Stallion. Taft goes home elated, while Loyola mourns a what-could-have-been (if Chris Newsome wasn’t saddled with three early fouls for those following). Needless to say, an NBA player guest stars in one of our awards this week so let’s get this started!
| 1 | | De La Salle University Green Archers (6-2) Six straight wins. A monster Jeron Teng performance for the ages. Yeah, we think the defending champions are finally back in the groove after dropping their first two assignments. Who would stop the Green Juggernaut? If Teng continues to play like Sunday afternoon (all drives, almost no jumpshots), man, that #B2BArchers hashtag is sure to happen. This week: vs. UP |
| Last week: 2 | ||
| 2 | | Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles (6-2) Ateneo is like a diesel-powered engine. It starts slow then gains a rumble before going full force. But alas, what people dub as the crammer mentality will not work all the time. Case in point: the last Rivalry Weekend where they fell short against DLSU after an awful 13-4 start. Kiefer Ravena was totally gassed by the end of the game and should’ve deferred to Chris Newsome, who was firing up after being saddled by three early fouls.
This week: vs. UE, NU |
| Last week: 1 | ||
| 3 | | Far Eastern University Tamaraws (6-2) FEU plays so much mercurial basketball that it drives their coach nuts. Against Adamson, they played to the Falcons' brand of ugly basketball. Against NU, the boys worked their tails off to negate the huge disadvantage up front. If that doesn’t drive you totally nuts, we don’t know what does. This week: vs. UST |
| Last week: 4 | ||
| 4 | | National University Bulldogs (5-3) FEU continues to frustrate NU as the Bulldogs drop consecutive games for the first time this season. However, Troy Rosario bounced back with a strong 14-7 effort compared to his 6-12 whimper the last time out. This week: vs. Adamson, ADMU |
| Last week: 3 | ||
| 5 | | University of the East Red Warriors (4-4) UE finally won against a Final Four team. Or was it? Not to demean a great victory powered by Charles Mammie last week, but UST hasn’t been well, contenders, to say the least. UP gave the Red Warriors a good fight before reverting to character. Star Sports Hub needs to see the Warriors win against a Final Four contender, whether by a mile or gut-it-out. Impress us, Roi Sumang, Charles. This week: vs. ADMU, NU |
| Last week: 7 | ||
| 6 | | University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers (4-4) The Thomasians pleaded for life and death that their Ateneo date be moved. No Karim Abdul and that’s a huge boon, or so we heard. UAAP complied, end of story. Still, what the Tigers need to whine about is not the schedule, but rather their supposed “star” being invisible again. Has anyone tracked down the real Kevin Ferrer? This week: vs. FEU |
| Last week: 5 | ||
| 7 | | University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons (1-7) UP returned to their UP ways, and of course, Star Sports Hub obliges. The one plus here is that the #UPFight seems to be lasting around 25-30 minutes a game now. At least, may asenso! |
| Last week: 6 | ||
| 8 | | Adamson University Soaring Falcons (0-7) Adamson lost to UST by a single possession. Again. We don’t know why Polican took the last shot instead of Don Trollano or Jansen Rios. Oh-so-close, Falcons, you breakers of hearts in the Star Sports Hub. This week: vs. NU, UE |
| Last week: 8 | ||
Line of the Week
We’ll be handing out this award to players who garnered the most eye-popping stats for the week. Drumroll please as we hand it to...
Jeron Teng, DLSU Green Archers: 32 points, 7-16 FG, 17-20 FTS, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal versus Ateneo
Surely, we have consolation prizes! And they are...
Kiefer Ravena, ADMU Blue Eagles: 22 points, 8-23 FG, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Jason Perkins, DLSU Green Archers: 18 points, 7-11 FG, 10 rebounds, 1 assist
Mac Belo, FEU Tamaraws: 23 points, 9-16 FG, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
***
Player of the Week
Our Player of the Week is judged not only on numbers but overall performance in helping his team win. Quality of opponent is also added for heavy consideration. The Player of the Week goes to...
Jeron Teng, DLSU Green Archers: 32.0ppg, 6.0rpg, 5.0apg, 1.0spg, 44% FG, 50% 3FG, 85% FT
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#NgiwingDeAndre Player of the Weak
A revamped weekly award that we give, with all chagrin, to...
Kevin Ferrer, University of Santo Tomas: 10.0ppg, 3.5rpg, 0.5apg, 1.5spg, 1.5topg, 22% FG, 17% 3FG
Looking at his raw numbers, you might say that Ferrer has been averaging double digits so it’s totally fine. But when you look at the effectivity, that’s where your eyes go big and say curses fluently (if you’re a Thomasian) or laugh outright (if you are at the other side of the fence). Needless to say, Ferrer has earned this recognition back-to-back and Los Angeles Clipper DeAndre Jordan has this to say to the “King” Tiger:
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MVP Watch
It won’t be as good if we don’t have an MVP watch as well seeing as we have many great players doing a lot for their teams! So, did your team’s top gun make it this week? Let’s see who we got this week:
- Kiefer Ravena, ADMU Blue Eagles (Week 4 rank: 1)
This week: 22.0ppg, 6.0rpg, 6.0apg, 1.0spg, 2.0topg, 35% FG, 33% 3FG, 50% FT
Season: 22.9ppg, 5.3rpg, 5.3apg, 1.4spg, 0.1bpg, 2.5topg, 37% FG, 31.8% 3FG, 71.4% FT
Proof that Ravena has been playing like a beast all year long? Fifteen straight points against DLSU in the second quarter of the second Rivalry Weekend bonanza. Given, Jeron Teng finished with the better numbers, but the Ateneo side was sputtering before Ravena went HAM on Robert Bolick and Julian Sargent. He looked fatigued towards the stretch opting to bail out the hail Mary Squad rather than making the smart play (couple of times Newsome was open and he was really firing in the last quarter). However, it’s ride or die with Kiefer for Ateneo. Win or lose. Book it. Since that’s what great players do.
- Jeron Teng, DLSU Green Archers (Week 4 rank: Unranked)
This week: 32.0ppg, 6.0rpg, 5.0apg, 1.0spg, 4.0topg, 44% FG, 50% 3FG, 85%FT
Season: 13.7ppg, 7.1rpg, 3.9apg, 0.5spg, 0.4bpg, 2.9topg, 37.2% FG, 25% 3FG, 74.2% FT
RoboSon finally enters the MVP race with arguably the most brutal 32 points of his UAAP career. Star Sports Hub says brutal since hey, Teng did not settle for jumpers and took it to the hapless grills of the Blue Eagles again and again. Proof? 20 free throw attempts, 17 made. You don’t get a lot of those by hoisting silly jumpers which he was wont to do earlier in the season.
- Mac Belo, FEU Tamaraws (Week 4 rank: 2)
This week: 18.0ppg, 7.0rpg, 2.0apg, 0.5bpg, 3.5topg, 56.5% FG, 42.8% 3FG, 77.8%FT
Season: 17.4ppg, 6.0rpg, 2.4apg, 0.4spg, 0.6bpg, 3.0topg, 60% FG, 37.5% 3FG, 66.7% FT
Belo finally logged in a double-double this season, and against NU’s huge frontline nonetheless. He logged in big 23-10 game against Aroga and Rosario and still is considered an MVP favorite. If he can only take better care of the ball, then he would be standing on top of Teng even after a monster game.
- Chris Tolomia, FEU Tamaraws (Week 4 rank: 3)
This week: 19.5ppg, 6.0rpg, 4.5apg, 3.5topg, 45.2% FG, 23.1% 3FG, 72.7% FT
Season: 16.5ppg, 4.3rpg, 3.9apg, 0.3spg, 4.0topg, 42.2% FG, 28.9% 3FG, 61.8% FT
The Tolomia Passing Theory lives! In two wins, Tolomia dished out four and five assists respectively. You know what we say here at Star Sports Hub: FEU plays better and wins with Tolomia handing out at least four dimes. Why? It means the offense is moving!
- Roi Sumang, UE Red Warriors (Week 4: 4)
This week: 8.0ppg, 5.0apg, 2.0spg, 3.0topg, 50% FG, 0% 3FG, 100% FT
Season: 14.1ppg, 3.3rpg, 5.1apg, 0.4spg, 3.0topg, 37.1% FG, 31% 3FG, 66.7% FT
Sumang retains his spot even after a bad week due to injury since he still plays better than the rest statistically speaking. He better be ready by Wednesday. Why? It’s #RoiFer 2 (please don’t sue us, Mika Reyes).
Almost made the cut: Troy Rosario, Jason Perkins
Dropped out of MVP race: Chris Newsome
Surprise of the week
UE finally figuring out that Charles Mammie can play. Well, better to say that Derrick Pumaren found out Mammie can play if given the majority of the minutes against newbie Moustapha Arafat. In three starts, Mammie has given them double-doubles.
Team of the Week
De La Salle gets the nod for our Team of the Week after winning a Grit N Grind game against Ateneo during Rivalry Weekend. They have won six straight and there’s no stopping them soon.
Team of the Weak
UST is our incumbent awardee. They can’t win convincingly against a team they are supposed to be dragging out the front door (AdU) and a souped-up opponent they have the tools to beat (NU). Also, what’s up with Bong Dela Cruz? And Kevin Ferrer has been pretty much MIA.
File your comments, complaints, protests, and blind hate to @PioVGarcia.