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| (Photo Credit: Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports) |
It turned out I was right. UE led the scoreboard almost the entire game. Whenever UP tried to make a comeback, Pasaol and his crew found ways to shut the door for the Maroons. Pasaol torched UP with his all-around performance (32 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks). Meanwhile, Desiderio had a terrible shooting day with only 8 points across his name (3/18 FG, 0/8 3PT)
With the win, the Red Warriors now have three games in the win column—only one game behind UP and NU. As for the Maroons, their aim to reach the Final Four this year continues to head south as they failed to start strong in the second round.
Ironically, this game illustrates how the two teams changed the trajectory of their respective performances as the season progressed. Moreover, it speaks volumes of how the plays of Paul Desiderio and Alvin Pasaol are affecting UP and UE.
Paul Desiderio is the UP Fighting Maroons' Ride or Die
UP started Season 80 with a 3-1 card, including a win over La Salle. For a short time, it seemed as if the Maroons are ready to break in to the Final Four column. That was until the losses piled up.
The rise and fall of UP can be attributed to how Desiderio fared on the field. He averaged 21 points over the first four games at a 39.1% shooting clip. But as defenses continued to lock up on him, Paul’s field goal percentage continued to drop, ending at a pedestrian 31.5% after ten games.
One possible problem stood out for UP: Desiderio shot an awful lot of threes. He averaged 8.4 three point attempts after the game against UE. At this rate, he only needs seven more attempts to eclipse last season’s highest average for three point attempts per game (Matt Salem, 6.4).
And it’s not like he’s hitting threes a la Splash Brother. Paul shot 21.5% from beyond the arc in his first three UAAP seasons. He wasn’t an excellent outside shooter before, and it began showing this year as the season progressed.
After starting with 37.5% three-point conversion over the first four games, Desiderio’s accuracy began to go down. During the last three games of the first round (where UP lost), he shot only 30.4% from long distance. The situation got even worse, as he made only 12.5% of his three point attempts to start the second round.
Another dilemma is the sudden crash in Desiderio’s production at the two-point area. As reliable as he is inside the arc, he only converted 21.7% of his two-point shots during the last three games—a far cry from the 40.7% clip he had at the first round.
To say the least, Paul’s shooting woes were problematic for the fighting Maroons, especially since he took a little over a fifth of his team’s shots over the course of the season. He was particularly underwhelming at the second-round games, where he only accounted for 10.8% of all the field goals made by UP despite taking 21.1% of the team’s field goal attempts.
Desiderio isn’t alone, as Manzo and the GDL brothers were also constantly contributing for UP. Bo Perasol has been live and die with the King Maroon up until this day. He's never told him to stop shooting. That's okay, since Desiderio can get hot. But, with the chances at a Final Four berth getting dimmer and dimmer by the day, adjustments have to be made and fast.
The rise of Alvin Pasaol
Where would UE be without Alvin Pasaol?
Pasaol, even though he looked (and continues to look) far from being athletic, was expected to lead a lowly UE squad this year. During the start of Season 80, it appeared as if he was ready to fulfill his destiny of being the main man of a team that has no chance to contend for the Final Four. He averaged 15.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in the Red Warriors’ first five games—all losses.
Then, he decided to go full throttle as if he was Michael Schumacher on basketball shoes. He broke the single-game scoring record with 49 points against La Salle. It was followed by a 32-point explosion in a win against UST.
The second round was even better for UE, as they won two out of their first three assignments. In both wins, the King Warrior clinched double-doubles in points and rebounds.
As a result of this mid-season surge, UE is still in contention for the Final Four, although they have a really slim chance. Not bad for a team that was not considered to be among the contenders even before the season started.
Even if guys like Manalang, Olayon, Derige and Maloles stepped up for the Red Warriors, it’s still easy to say that Pasaol was the barometer for UE for the first ten games. He shot 32.9% from the field, including a poor 24.1% from the three during UE’s 0-5 start. By the time UE completed its tenth game, his numbers went up to 22.2 points and 7.1 rebounds on 42.9% field goal shooting, 32% from the three. What’s even more amazing is he shot 40 percent from deep during the three second-round games they had. Arguing that Pasaol wasn’t largely responsible for UE’s surprising performance would be difficult, as he was responsible for 29% of all the field goal attempts made by the Red Warriors.
Where would UE be without Alvin Pasaol? I wouldn’t even dare answer this one. For now, I’ll just enjoy witnessing the greatness of the legendary Air Sambokojin.
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When a team relies on one player to carry so much load, the results are typically dictated by how the main guy performed during the games. Take Kiefer in his later years at Ateneo, or even LeBron in his first stint at Cleveland as examples. In the case of UP and UE, my brother was right about being excited for the Desiderio-Pasaol matchup. After all, they were tasked to carry the Maroons and the Red Warriors. Their performances were reflections of the outcome of the UP-UE game, and their respective seasons thus far.
As for me, I felt some guilt when it turned out I was right. I should probably keep myself from giving unnecessary predictions, especially when it comes to UP.
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