Skip to main content

Quick Fire: Ateneo Blue Eagles survive La Salle Green Archers run to sweep first round

Image
By
(Photo Credit: John Oranga, Fabilioh)

Ateneo Blue Eagles def. La Salle Green Archers 76-75

Notable Players:

Matt Nieto, Ateneo (16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 ballsy free throws): We all know the big shots, but how he broke La Salle's mayhem and settled down Ateneo was just as impressive.

Anton Asistio, Ateneo (14 points, 4 made threes): He didn't do too well late in the game but his threes at the start were key.

Jolo Mendoza, Ateneo (10 points, 2/3 3FG, 2 assists): Jolo was terrific for most of this game, taking advantage of La Salle's poor coverage on the perimeter to hit some timely shots. He still has a ways to go at being a play maker, but he's getting there.

Ben Mbala, La Salle (18 points, 13 rebounds): He had *just* 18 points, but how he forced Ateneo to help on him again and again was key in making this game close. A facilitating Mbala is a nightmare to be up against.

Ricci Rivero, La Salle (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals): Ricci was one of the beneficiaries of the attention being given to Ben as he cut to the rim endlessly and was awesome defensively. He was a revelation.

Quick Analysis

- To say that Ateneo won just because of "breaks of the game" is lazy. They got breaks, but they grabbed the opportunity and beat La Salle with it. Wins are never handed. Always earned. They pounced on La Salle's errors and ended up with an intense win versus their rivals.

- On that note, much work has to be done for Ateneo. La Salle did a great job of defending their hand off action (their primary mode of attack for off ball movement), so their spacing was hampered. Don't be surprised if they sprinkle in some pinch post action in there soon.

-  Props to La Salle, as they took advantage of Ateneo focusing too much on Mbala to their advantage. One on one, no one can stop Ben. That's a given. So Ateneo threw in a bunch of defenders versus Ben, to the delight of Coach Aldin. This gave guys like Ricci Rivero, Andrei Caracut and Jollo Go space to operate around. 

- La Salle's still the favorites to win it all. They're the more talented team and slowly but surely, they're starting to figure out how to use Ben within their motion offense. Come Final Four time, it won't be pretty. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Analyzing Shaun Ildefonso's decision to join the NU Bulldogs

By
Last night, in a surprising turn of events for many, Shaun Ildefonso announced on his Twitter account that he was leaving Ateneo to join the NU Bulldogs. You can find his entire message below: Ateneo will always be home. Thank you for the One Big Fight 💙 pic.twitter.com/uV2usLF7bx — Shaun Ildefonso (@ShaunIldefonso) May 29, 2017 The gist of his message is this: He's joining NU to join his dad, and he feels like with the Bulldogs, his athletic potential will be fully realized. The rest of his message has him thanking friends that he made during his stay in college, and the rest of the Ateneo community. For the case of this piece, only two facts are important: Shaun Ildefonso is going to NU, and a big reason for that happens to be his dad, Danny Ildefonso. So how do these factors affect not only Shaun, but other things as well? Let's talk about just that. How the decision affects Shaun It's important that we discuss the primary subject of this entire exercise...
1 comment
Read more

Philippine High School Basketball Class of 2017 Scouting Reports and Rankings

By
Welcome to the Class of 2017 Scouting Reports and Rankings. This part of the site provides to you the rankings of the recruits who are part of the aforementioned class, some details regarding them, and most importantly, the school which they have committed to play for in college. Linked to the name of each player is the scouting report that has been written about them in this website. For those without any links just yet, their scouting reports are on the way. (Photo Credit: The Philippine Star) With that, I present to you the rankings for the Class of 2017. Ranking Name Position Played Height School/Team Committed To 1 Juan Gomez de Liano PG/SG 6’3” UP Fighting Maroons 2 John Lloyd Clemente SG/SF 6’3” NU Bulldogs 3 Troy Mallillin SF/PF 6’3” None (Choosing between NU, UST and Ateneo) 4 Jonas Tibayan PF 6’3” NU Bulldogs 5 Guilmer...
2 comments
Read more

Kamaka Hepa's emergence has showcased some of the warts of Philippine Basketball

By
At the end of the day, we may call him one of the biggest what-ifs in Philippine Basketball. (Photo Credit: Spin.ph) The NBTC tournament this year has received quite some hype thanks to the reported involvement of Ron Harper Jr. (yes, the son of THAT Ron Harper). Sadly, Harper Jr. couldn't show up, so we had to look for someone to hype on elsewhere. The reality of it was, even when Harper was supposed to join the tournament, the guy who we were supposed to be hyping up was just lurking in the shadows. That player is none other than 6'9" forward, Kamaka Hepa. Kamaka Hepa is a 17 year old Fil-Am who plays for Jefferson High School. But since Hepa hailed from Alaska initially, he didn't receive much attention from the Filipino crowd. There were articles done on him by SLAM and SLAM Philippines, but those articles didn't create much traction for Hepa. So when news of him arriving in the country released, only some fans/analysts were excited for the prospec...
Post a Comment
Read more