Ateneo – La Salle rivalry renewed

It was a game that both schools were highly anticipating. La Salle and Ateneo had not met each other in 2 years. Araneta Coliseum was filled to the rafters with green on one side and blue on the other.

From the opening buzzer the pressure was intense. The players, the coaches, the crowd were on their toes from opening tip- off.

Surprisingly, Ateneo started with Kirk Long, their prized American recruit from Faith Academy. La Salle had their regular starting five.

PJ Walsham hits the 1st shot of the game. But from the onset, La Salle looked tentative while Ateneo looked confident. La Salle clamped down on defense and forced Ateneo to turnovers.

The starters were ineffective and Coach Franz brings in his bench. Casio and Malabes hit and the game goes back and forth. Ateneo makes a run near the end of the first quarter and take a 4 point lead at the end.

1st Quarter score 19 – 15 Ateneo

La Salle starts the 2nd quarter strong and hit 4 straight points to tie the game. Ateneo starts to clamp down on defense and had a more fluid offense with balanced shooting from almost everyone on the floor. What was evident was Ateneo’s big men were dominating La Salles big men. However, for awhile, La Salle’s fast break was clicking.

Coach Franz brings in Ferdinand and he makes his presence felt. Unfortunately the rookie gets 2 quick fouls. Though La Salle’s defense was good, their offense just wouldn’t click. What made matter worse is that they were shooting horrendously from the foul line.

The officiating started to become questionable. The referees were calling ticky tack fouls on La Salle while allowing Ateneo more leeway.

2nd Quarter ends 30 – 30

The 3rd quarter was reminiscent of the last game against UE. La Salle just couldn’t shoot. Their foul shooting was horrible. Ateneo on the hand was patient and moved the ball around well. Jai Reyes and Kirk Long were doing a great job orchestrating the Ateneo offense.

On the hand La Salle looked unsure of themselves. They did not have the confidence that has always been present in Pumaren coached teams. The veterans TY Tang and Pocholo Villanueva looked lost on the court. The bright spot however was JV Casio and Rico Maeirhofer.

I was particularly concerned about Badeer Malabes. Thoug he made a couple of shots, he looked terrified on the court. He shot ill-advised 3s and one time even hi t the side of the backboard.

The officiating was also getting worse. The referees were making questionable calls that were obviously wrong.

3rd Quarter ends 49 – 44 Ateneo

In the 4th Ateneo began to dominate. They lead by as much as 9 points. Then La Salle goes on a defensive and offensive surge. JV Casio gets ho t and buries a few 2s and a 3. Rico Maierhofer starts to drive to the basket and also scores.

But, the foul shooting woes continued. Add to the the worsening officiating and it was really getting scary for La Salle. With about 3 minutes to go, La Salle bring the lead down to 3. But again foul shooting was killing us.

With a little more than a minute to go, La Salle ties the game. After making a defensive stop, La Salle scores and leads by 2 with about 35 seconds remaining. In Ateneos next possession, they move the ball around and tie the game.

With about 13 seconds remaining and inbounding from half court, La Salle can’t even get a shot up. It was disheartening to see them break down in this last possession.

4th Quarter end 67 – 67

Ateneo started the overtime with 4 straight points and never looked back. La Salle tried to even the score but bad officiating just kept giving Ateneo free throws that they were converting.

But La Salle kept coming back and with a little less than a minute to go, La Salle brings down the lead to 1 point. In a crucial rebound, Ataneo taps the ball out but the referee calls a jump ball, with the possession arrow making it Ateneo’s ball. It was a very bad call that changed the game. Ateneo scores on that possession and in La Salle’s next possession, they are fouled and make only 1 of 2.

Ahead by 2, Ateneo executes a perfect play leaving Chris Tiu open, who scores a 3. It was the last dagger. La Salle still tried to overcome the lead and score 1 out of 2 foul shots. In the dying minutes, Rico Maeirhofer went to the line, made the first and intentionally missed the 2nd. La Salle could nto get the rebound

Games ends 80 – 77 Ateneo.

My 2 cents worth:

I saw a very lackadaisical La Salle team. They did not have the confidence that they showed in the pre-season tournaments and their 1st 2 games of the season.

I am surprised that in the last 3 games, the veterans TY Tang and Pocholo Villanueva seemed to have dropped out of sight. This team has no leadership on the court right now.

The big men of La Salle also seem to be outplayed. Today, only Rico Maierhofer had a semblance of an inside game. Walsham, Illad, Kish Co and even James Mangahas have shown nothing. I am very surprised by this. Could their loss to UE been responsible for the total breakdown of this team?

Another thing that has to be improved is the foul shooting. Villanueva and Tang can’t seem to have a flow in their foul shooting. That’s what lost us this game.

I am glad that Coach Franz played Ferdinand today. With the lack in big man power, La Salle has just been dominated on the boards. The team does not even have a reliable post up player.

Malabes and Illad also have not shown any significant contribution to the team. I hope they begin to be more productive and play the game that they are capable off.

But don’t count the Green Archers out of the running. They have a FRANZ PUMAREN, who is a terrific motivator. If there is a way to raise the playing level of this, Franz can definitely do it.

I still believe this team will come back better and stronger. They need to beat UST in the next game to be able to get back to the winning track.

La Salle is like a pit bull. When bloodied, they will come back harder and stronger.