(UP MBT Game #3- July 29, 2012 @ the MOA Arena)
After displaying what could be their worst first quarter of UAAP
Season 75, the UP Fighting Maroons fought gallantly until the final buzzer to
give themselves a chance at a first win.
The effort though was still not enough.
The Maroons almost rose back from the dead after being down by 20
points after 10 minutes of play. They slowly carved Adamson University’s lead
and even went up by one four minutes left in the game after a Jelo
Montecastro’s freethrow. Adamson fought back and led by as much as six again
but UP did not succumb to the pressure and was able to tie the game at 67-all
with the combined excellent plays of Mark Lopez, Alvin Padilla and Chris Ball.
However, it was Rodney Brondial’s follow-up of a Jericho Cruz miss
that sealed the game for the Falcons 69-67. The Maroons, out of timeouts after
the ensuing play, were left with no idea how to finish the game with 18 seconds
left.
At first I thought Lopez would take the last shot because of how
well he played today, he even made a three pointer to tie the game at 65-all
and scored a team-high 17 points. Or
maybe even Mike Silungan, who was brought here for that purpose, to take the
biggest shots for the Maroons even on an off-game.
Instead, the ball found its way to Padilla’s hands in the dying
seconds of the game. He hoisted up a contested three pointer, not really
squared up for the shot. The attempt was long and bounced off the rim just as
the final buzzer sounded. To my (and the rest of the UP contingent’s) dismay,
we had suffered our third straight setback, we had the chance to win but we had
to settle for another loss.
The Maroons started slowly again in this match-up and as
aforementioned was down by 20 at the end of the first quarter. Surprisingly, Coach
Ricky Dandan played third-string forward Diony Hipolito ahead of the likes of
Paolo Romero and Raul Soyud. I had a bad feeling about this decision and true
enough, Adamson big men Brondial and Eric Camson feasted on Hipolito and Ball
inside the paint. Furthermore, the lead ballooned after the Falcons started
hitting their three point shots, two from Alex Nuyles and one each from Ryan
Monteclaro and Allen Etrone.
The second quarter was a different story as the Maroons tightened
up the defense and applied full court traps and pressure to the Falcons. The
result was a 20-9 scoring run highlighted by UP playing the passing lanes well
and converting via fastbreak on one Adamson turnover after another. Rookie big
man JR Gallarza (and his short shorts) was a revelation here as he stopped
Camson from doing more damage in the paint and from mid-range. Adamson lead by
just nine, 37-28, going into halftime.
The third period was a coaching masterpiece for Dandan as UP was
able to bring things back to square one going into the final quarter. The
Maroons continued their trapping defense using their small-ball line-up and was
again able to force more Falcon turnovers. UP outscored Adamson again in this
period, 22-13, and was capped by rookie pointguard Henry Asilum’s back-to-back
hits to knot the score at 50-all after three.
The fourth quarter was like a stage play with two protagonists
fighting toe-to-toe for the honor of a first win, UP with Montecastro calling
the shots and Adamson with Cruz controlling the tempo. The result was an all
out fight to the very end.
The Falcons were able to capitalize on Chris Ball’s four personal
fouls more than halfway into the fourth. Coach Dandan fielded in Hipolito at
center, and with Silungan and Lopez as forwards, had to battle Camson and
Brondial again inside. The two Falcon big men successfully bullied their way
inside scoring on easy putbacks, and with Cruz’s steady sniping, seemed to have
the game in the bag at 65-59.
With their pride still intact, UP would unleash their last run and
tie the game at 65-all courtesy of Chris Ball’s and-one conversion and Mark
Lopez’s three pointer. Camson and Padilla would score again for both sides for a
67-all tie. Then the Brondial tip-in finalized the scoring at 69-67.
The game, just like the one against National University last
Thursday, had its positives and negatives for the Maroons.
One biggest negative is that the team started slow again and had
to come back from a 20-point lead. Biggest positive is the Maroons’ ability to
come back from a big lead, but it isn’t always fun to do so. Starting strong is
still UP’s biggest problem in this young UAAP season. If this happens again, particularly in their
next game, they will definitely not stand a chance against the Ateneo Blue
Eagles.
With the Falcon’s steady outside shooting to start the game, the
Maroons did not have the chance to execute the 1-3-1 zone used against NU last
game. Instead, Dandan made it clear to his boys that they had to outhustle
their opponents to get back in the game. The small-ball line-up that he fielded
will definitely be (and should be) a constant in their next games, as Lopez,
Padilla and Silungan all showed how good they can be defensively and
offensively.
One chink in the Maroons armor is the ability to close out games,
particularly with last second shot plays. As mentioned earlier, the Maroons
were without timeouts in their last possession and were a bit clueless as to
how to win the game. The last five remaining on the floor were Montecastro,
Silungan, Lopez, Padilla and Ball. Of the five, Montecastro should have been
the one executing a “point-guard play” to make sure that his team was getting
the best shot possible.
All of UP was hoping for a 1-2 record instead of 0-3. Still, the
future looks bright and the next coming games for the Maroons are filled with
hope and optimism for them to finally nail that elusive first win.
Individual Scores:
Adamson 69 – Cruz 19, Camson 19, Brondial 10, Nuyles 9, Rios 3, Petilos 3, Monteclaro 3, Etrone 3, Trollano 0, Julkipli 0, Deans 0, Cabrera 0, Abrigo 0.
UP 67 – Lopez 17, Ball 13, Padilla 9, Montecastro 7, Gamboa 6, Manuel 4, Asilum 4, Silungan 3, Soyud 2, Hipolito 2, Mbah 0, Romero 0, Gallarza 0.
Quarter scores: 28-8, 37-28, 50-50, 69-67
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