Final Four or bust for rivals NU, UE

Game today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4 p.m. – UE vs NU (playoff for No. 4)
 

MANILA, Philippines - This is one showdown that has the velocity and intensity of Typhoon Mario if it were to be held today for the last Final Four berth in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

And UAAP fans are looking forward to a good weather to witness this fiery faceoff between National U and University of the East for the last seat in what has been conssidered as one of the toughest races for the semifinals.

The Bulldogs and the streaking Red Warriors ended up tied at fourth with 9-5 cards after the tightly-fought double-round elims that also saw two teams – La Salle and Far Eastern – lock in a standoff for No. 2 with 10-4 marks behind top ranked Ateneo (11-3).

Gametime for the UE-NU playoff match is at 4 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum but heavy rains spawned by tropical storm Mario that inundated parts of Metro Manila may force the league to call it off. The UAAP said it would make a decision on the UE-NU dispute Friday night.

NU missed the opportunity to advance outright and avoid a KO for fourth when it dropped a 56-68 loss to DLSU last Saturday. The chasing Warriors took advantage and beat the ousted University of Santo Tomas Tigers last Tuesday, 78-73, to pick up their ninth win and catch up with the Bulldogs.

“We know NU’s got to be a different team come Saturday. And they’ll have the advantage of a longer preparation than us,” said UE coach Derrick Pumaren. “We have to play tough defense against NU. They’re very patient and really move the ball well so we really got to play for 24 seconds defensively with them.”

UE has won its last five games – 6-1 in the second round overall – to salvage a playoff for the last semis berth.

“This is it, the actual do-or-die. We just have to keep fighting to stay alive. We’ve been doing this for three weeks already and we just got to do it one more time to make it to the Final Four,” said Pumaren.

NU coach Eric Altamirano said they started preparing for a playoff against UE after Saturday’s loss to La Salle, no longer waiting for the Tuesday game to see if the Tigers would derail the Warriors and hand the Bulldogs an outright semis spot.

“We braced for the worst and wanted to be ready for a playoff against UE,” said Altamirano.

However, he maintained it’s imperative for everyone to do his share.

“For us to win, it has to be a collective effort; if one is ‘absent’ we’re really struggling. If you notice, we win games when everybody contributes. Of course, sometimes our defense holds up and helps fuel our offense,” said Altamirano.

“What’s important now is we have to survive our playoff against UE. We’ll have to be ready,” he added.