Grand UAAP basketball conclusion

THE Season 77 men’s seniors basketball tournament of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) came to a grand conclusion last night with the decisive Finals Game Three between National University and Far Eastern University.
The Bulldogs won in Game Three, 75-59, to halt the league’s longest title drought. NU last captured a championship (its first) in 1954.
This is one season where “two is bigger than three.” FEU beat NU in their first three meetings before NU saved the best for last by taking the last two games of the best-of-three UAAP finals.
If the Tamaraws had won, they would have extended their league record for the most number of collegiate championships to 20 (two more than the 18 crowns each secured by the University of Santos Tomas and University of the East).
As for the UAAP All-Tournament Team, the five spots (in chronological order) went to Ateneo de Manila University’s Kiefer Ravena (21.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game), De La Salle University’s Jeron Teng (18.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 0.6 spg and 0.6 blocks per game), Far Eastern University’s Mark Belo (16.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 2.5 apg), ADMU’s Chris Newsome (13.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.6 apg and 1.3 spg) and the University of Santo Tomas’ Karim Abdul (14.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg and 1.7 bpg).
There’s no requirement for a selection of two forwards, a center and two guards like the traditional Mythical Five. The top five players with the most statistical points (compiled from the five major statistical categories like points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots plus 15 points for every game won in which the player played) after the 14-game elimination phase automatically landed on the all-tournament unit.
One is only disqualified from the mythical squad considerations if he was ejected from a game or given a suspension. A league rule also states only one foreign player (without any pint of Filipino blood, of course) can make it to the Mythical Five.
NU’s Alfred Aroga, a Cameroonian like Abdul, ranked sixth in the SP race. Aroga showed up for all 14 assignments with the Bulldogs while Abdul was the only Mythical Five choice that did not complete the elims as he suited up in just 13 games (once sitting out due to an illness). Abdul is the lone repeater from last season’s all-tournament squad.
With the most SPs among his peers, Ravena, who was the tournament leader in points and assists and ranked second in steals, automatically  romped away with the UAAP Most Valuable Player honor after powering the Blue Eagles to the league’s best elimination-round record at 11-3.
Despite its top-seed status, the Jesuits-run school lost twice to No. 4 seed National University in the Final 4 (semifinal playoffs).
Teng, a 6-foot-2 swingman who has paced La Salle in point production in each of his three seasons with the Green, ranked a far second in the MVP race. The youngest son of former professional player Alvin Teng made it to the Mythical Five for the second time in three years.
For the Rookie of the Year award, Ateneo’s Arvin Tolentino was the winner also on the basis of statistical points although the former San Beda Red Cubs star struggled mightily in the second round of the elimination phase and the subsequent two-game playoff series against NU.
Tolentino started on fire with double-digit scores (12-14-20-17-5-14) in five of his first six games, including the first four, and two double-doubles in points and rebounds (14/10 in Game 2and 14/12 in Game 6 to emerge as the league’s eighth-leading scorer with a 12.1-point clip (third on the Eagle roost behind Ravena and Newsome), taking 75 field shots (26-for-75 overall, 13-for-43 from the three-point area) in the first round in a third team-high  27.3 minutes an outing as a starter, and grabbing 5.0 rebounds every time out.
After that, Tolentino’s numbers nosedived dramatically as he started only five times in seven appearances and his minutes dropped to 17.7 mpg. Blue Eagles bench boss Bo Perasol has all the reasons to reduce his playing time not only because of the creditable performances of some teammates and Ravena’s constant offensive bombardment but also due to a major scoring slump by Tolentino.
In the second round, Tolentino normed a measly 3.9 ppg to go with his 6.3 rpg, attempting only a total of 26 fielders and making nine of them (including 1-of-15 from the three-ball territory). Overall, he posted averages of 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds during the 14-game elimination phase.
The prolonged slump extended into the playoffs as well. In the first of a two-game series against NU, Tolentino  came off the pines to notch six points (3-6 FGA) and three boards in 15:17 minutes as Ravena took an astonishing 35 shots (of his team’s 75) to get his 24 points. In the rubber match, Tolentino again was relegated to a reserve role and did not take a single floor attempt and grabbed just one rebound in 5:17 minutes of service. He simply went on vacation early and brought along his teammates to the exit in a 65-63 loss to the Bulldogs.
That being said, Tolentino nonetheless succeeded the University of the Philippines’ Kyles Lao as the UAAP ROY awardee simply on the basis of his elimination-round stats, no matter how dull they were.
Tolentino’s closest rival for the top freshman honors was La Salle’s Paolo (Prince) Rivero, who averaged 4.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 11.6 minutes in 14 appearances as a substitute.  However, Rivero turned out to be far less distinguished than Tolentino in the numbers game.