IT’S been a long time since parity has ruled the premier collegiate men’s basketball leagues in the Metro Manila area, specifically the UAAP and the NCAA.
This season, a number of schools have a legitimate chance at winning a championship in the UAAP or NCAA. There is no clear-cut favorite to accomplish the feat.
The games have become unpredictable that a lesser light can easily knock off the oddsmakers’ choice on any given day.
And with both leagues employing a double-round elimination round (14 games for the eight-team UAAP and 18 games for the 10-team NCAA) with a Final Four format, anything is possible between now and October.
Hoop pundits would often comment that “bilog ang bola” in assessing the basketball games. And the assessment cannot be more apt when describing the topsy-turvy developments in the ongoing UAAP and NCAA competitions.
After the first round, seven of the eight UAAP schools – with the exception of winless (0-7) and perennial laughing stock University of the Philippines (or Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) – were all within striking distance of the Final Four playoffs. Far Eastern University topped the standings with a perfect 7-0 record; National University, University of Santo Tomas and University of the East were deadlocked at second place at 4-3; and De La Salle University, five-time reigning titlist Ateneo de Manila University and host Adamson University were all just a full game behind the No. 2 spot with identical 3-4 ledgers.
Then the second round came. Simultaneous with the calamitous rains and flooding that struck the National Capital Region, the FEU Tamaraws quickly slipped and slid, losing in succession to the NU Bulldogs and DLSU Green Archers as leading Most Valuable Player candidate Terrence Romeo suffered through an offensive tailspin (7-for-34 field-goal shooting in the twin defeats).
Yesterday, the slumping Tams of rookie UAAP mentor Nash Racela faced a red-hot UE Red Warriors (5-4) unit which it beat in double overtime, 98-94. Another setback and FEU (8-2) would have dropped into a tie with NU (7-3) at the top.
NU, which currently owns a four-game winning streak, started the second round with triumphs over FEU and a pair of struggling teams in Adamson (3-6, four straight losses) and UST (4-5, three consecutive losses).
The Bulldogs edged FEU, 59-58, and crushed Adamson, 80-48, to avenge first-round losses to both schools (87-83 vs. FEU and 68-66 vs. Adamson) then blew away UST, 83-69, for a second time last Saturday.
Also with three straight wins to start the second round is La Salle, which at 6-4 has temporarily moved up to fourth place (could be third if UE lost to FEU yesterday). The Green Archers repeated over Adamson, 70-69, in overtime; blasted FEU, 75-66, to avenge an 83-79 overtime loss; and sent UP to its 16th consecutive defeat in two seasons (including 0-7 in the second round of the 2012 tournament) with an 85-63 decision last Saturday after trailing by seven points, 42-35, at the half.
The Fighting Maroons paraded a new head coach against DLSU in erstwhile assistant Rey Madrid (who is taking over the reins from Ricky Dandan, whose beloved mom’s harsh press statements over his son’s firing and Madrid’s acceptance of the new post were more controversial than Dandan’s dismissal itself).
However, the end result remained the same – another loss. UP is headed for a winless 0-14 campaign for the second time in four years unless Adamson offers to be a generous victim.
Adamson (3-7) is in danger of missing the Final Four this early as the plummeting Falcons were mired in a five-game losing skein after yesterday’s 79-66 second-round defeat against Ateneo (5-4), which has won four in a row.
In the midst of a three-game losing streak, UST (4-5) has not been the same since its hotshot Jeric Teng went down with a shoulder injury in the Growling Tigers’ third assignment (2-1) of the season against NU. Teng, who is in his fifth and final year of UAAP eligibility, sat out the next five games (2-3) before suffering another injury (hamstring) upon his return against the same Bulldogs.
So far in the second round, UST has lost to UE, 68-67, having failed to duplicate its earlier 88-77 win over the Red Warriors, and against NU.
The Growling Tigers will need to dislodge late bloomers La Salle (a 63-58 overtime win in the first round) and Ateneo (a 61-57 loss) to secure the last Final Four berth.
FEU, NU and UE are primed to snare the other Final Four slots. Meanwhile, Colegio de San Juan de Letran (8-1) whipped three-time defending champion San Beda College (7-2) last Saturday to pace the first round of the NCAA competitions.
The Knights opened the season with seven straight victories before they were beaten, 80-66, by the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Altas, who at 6-2 can still catch up with the Red Lions at second place with a win in their final first-round appearance this week.
The Bedans’ only other defeat came at the hands of lowly Lyceum of the Philippines University (2-6) in their second game.
Host College of Saint Benilde (3-5, with one first-round game remaining) struggled at the start of the season with five consecutive losses by a combined seven points but the Blazers have since put together a three-game winning streak.
With another nine games in the second round for all 10 teams, nothing is definite as to whom the invitations to the NCAA Final Four party are to be sent. Just a word of caution: Don’t get too high over a victory and too low over a defeat. Nothing is impossible.