THE UAAP men’s basketball finals will feature a new cast.
National University hasn’t been in the finals for decades and hasn’t tasted a championship in 60 years. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs barged into the finals by bucking Ateneo’s twice-to-beat edge as top finisher in the classification. By playing to its own beat and using its size advantage, NU finally reached the final dance, completing what its previous teams had failed to do even with the talented Bobby Ray Parks Jr.
Waiting for them will be Far Eastern University, a UAAP school with a proud sports tradition but unlucky of late in winning another hoop title. With the fiery Mike Tolomia and the hardworking Mac Bello, the Tamaraws are back in the championship series after the Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia era.
NU and FEU simply wouldn’t allow another Ateneo-La Salle title showdown. This has probably disappointed the faithful of the two rivals who were hoping to trade arrows and claws anew on the court and in social media. Sorry, guys. Your new title series will just have to wait again. NU simply had Ateneo’s number and FEU, in spite of a slip in the first of two games of battle between second and third seeds, just knew how to play the Green Archers.
Three intangibles will determine the victor of the series.
1. Desire. Nothing is more regrettable in sportswriting than the slip into a cliché but the hunger angle manifested by the much-abused line of “who wants it more?” will be a factor in the NU-FEU finale. Each side will have its own hunger to satisfy.
But nobody knows a drought like NU. The Bulldogs were the cellar occupants for the longest time until better players, coaching and logistical help turned the team around. The old joke in the UAAP was “matalo na sa lahat huwag lang sa NU” (lose to anybody except NU). This is not the case anymore.
2. Tempo. FEU will have to find a way to manage its game when NU wants to slow it down. Ateneo was frustrated throughout the season when it could not play its high octane game against the Bulldogs. Using height and heft, NU dragged Ateneo on both ends of the court. FEU has to play at a tempo that will allow its offense to still be effective when NU plays its lockdown defense.
3. Coaching. Two of the most astute students of the game get entangled in this series. FEU’s Nash Racela has been known for his methodical preparation while Eric Altamirano of NU is deft in changing his game plan based on how the action unfolds.
How both teams make the changes once each other’s strengths and plans have been laid bare by the first minutes of the opening encounter will be crucial. It is essential to watch the college game as 10-minute quarters (rather the 12 minutes of the pro game) and the pulsating and often frenetic action played by young men. The game is quick and the mentor that reads the nuances of the game just as fast will have the edge.
It’s winning time in the UAAP. Bulldogs and Tamaraws will be on the loose in the finals.
The side that knows how to manage its assets and respond to the call of the game will lift a trophy at season’s end.
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