The past week was full of upsets, surprises, and controversial moments. Rankings got shuffled and predictions were shattered! Sheesh! Oh, but this is why the UAAP is so awesome!
Team Standings as of August 9, 2011:
Power Rankings as of August 9, 2011:
1 - Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles (no change)
Sweep. Do you need any other reason? They've blown out teams, and they've won close ones. They've come back from deficits, and they've kept teams at bay. The Eagles are far from flawless (3-point shooting sucks, bench is inconsistent, Greg Slaughter finds it tough going left, etc.), but as far as the most important stat (wins) goes, they're perfect.
2 - Adamson Soaring Falcons (up three spots)
The Falcons fly back to the bridesmaid spot after escaping the Archers. Not a few people thought La Salle was robbed in that game, but I'd like to think that the breaks (from those lucky buzzer-beaters to DLSU's slip-ups and missed freebies) just went the way of San Marcelino. And, hey, luck goes near those who work hard, right? The Adamson Falcons gave themselves a chance to win late in the game, and they took advantage. Coach Leo Austria can sleep better knowing that his boys can hack it in crunch time. Perhaps losing to NU was a fluke, but a loss to UP on Thursday will cast doubt on Adamson anew.
3 - De La Salle Green Archers (down one spot)
It's the refs. It's Adamson's tsamba shots. It's rigged. Oh, sure, don't look at the atrocious shooting, missed lay-ups and bungled plays. Seriously though, La Salle played good enough to go 4-2, but Adamson was lucky enough (yes, good enough, too) to go one better. Now the Archers are at 3-3, and they'll go up against a very game UST team on Thursday for a shot at the 4th spot. Norbert Torres finally showed up, and Yutien Andrada played well, but coach Pumaren's main guys (Revilla, Van Opstal, dela Paz & Tampus) have to get it going to close out the 1st round on a winning note.
4 - FEU Tamaraws (down two spots)
FEU has only 3 losses on the cards, but it could just as easily have been 5 had NU and UST been steadier in the endgame. With JR Cawaling probably still hurting and Pipo Noundou nowhere in sight, things could get worse fast for coach Bert Flores. Even if we discount the bizarre 11-point possession Ateneo imposed on the Tamaraws, it was clear who was way ahead of the curve in that game. RR Garcia has been putting up the numbers on aggregate, but his percentages are awful. Terrence Romeo has been good only in stretches and Aldrech Ramos has been inconsistent. A couple of upsets might derail FEU in the second round if they fail to right the ship in time.
5 - UST Growling Tigers (up one spot)
UST was on a slump and UP was on a high. So how did UST beat UP and get back on the winning track? Were the Tigers better by a mile like the score suggests? Not on paper, but UP's sheer atrociousness could've fooled anyone on any day. Props to coach Pido, however, for the slight roster change. Moving Ferrer to the second five gives the Tigers a different look and a more balanced rotation. Will he stick with it? Methinks he should, especially since the stacked Archers are coming up next. After all the disappointments of the first round, this one win could be the catalyst UST needs to still make the Top 4.
6 - UP Fighting Maroons (up one spot)
From Fairy Tale to Tragedy -- that's how UP's week went. At best, UP is an enigma -- they can turn it up to beat a championship contender, but they can also be so dreadful as to lose to a slumping UST five. So what does all this nonsense mean for UP? It means they're getting somewhere, but where that is exactly is as good as anyone's guess. If the UP of August 4 shows up more often, especially against Adamson on Thursday, then we'll all forget the UP of August 7. Odds are, though, that the latter will be the norm, which means that somewhere where UP is headed, might still actually end up to be nowhere.
7 - NU Bulldogs (down three spots)
This could've been UP at 7th, but I'll make it a personal rule that any team that loses to UE this season should go down AT LEAST 3 slots. Why? Because it's impossible to lose to UE. Or it should be. Because think about it -- a team that has both Ray Parks and Emmanuel Mbe, a team that bagged two titles before Season 74 (Fr. Martin's and Unigames I think), a team coached by Coach E, should not lose to UE. And this coming one week after beating the Adamson Falcons. Wow. Talk about Hero to Zero.
8 - UE Red Warriors (no change)
Well thank you for rattling everyone and making things even more confusing. Good job on the upset by the way. It won't happen again. So the Warriors surprised everyone, and by that I'm including every single member of the UE team as well, by beating NU. Good enough to turn heads? Yes. Good enough for them to gain some street-cred? Yes. Good enough to be called dark horses? Nope. Good enough to rise up the rankings? Still no. Will they beat anyone else in the season? I'm putting my money on NO, but, hey, UP is so up and down it just might happen.
8 Comment
ADMU on top because of how they BOUGHT the refs. Did you see the FT shooting disparity between them and FEU in their game a week ago? It's a big shame.
Balas@Anonymous: Did you even watch the game?? FEU was jacking up 3s like nobody's business. There was really no point in fouling FEU because not only are 3-pt shots low-percentage shots, they weren't even making them. So why even bother fouling them? Hay naku, only shows how people sour grape when there's a dominating team. Sabagay, people throw stones only at trees that bear fruit. Oh, and by the way, Ateneo got the bad calls in the ADMU-DLSU game but ended winning anyway. So think before you whine.
Balas18 FTs was the disparity. Are you out of your mind? And oh FEU was just throwing up all 3s? Be realistic. They had Ramos who is an inside player. Count in RR and the other slew of attacking guards FEU has and that 18 FTs can't count. BESIDES, you have an illegitimate player on your squad-uh Greg Slaughter. Whether the board approved it or not, you guys will win in due to the help of a player with professional experience. Malamang, ilagay mo si Sol Mercado sa UE tingnan natin kung hindi sila maging title contenders or kung ilagay mo si Asi Taulava sa ADAMSON baka durugin din lang kayo.
BalasOkay, here's my take on that whole free-throw discrepancy conspiracy theory.
BalasBy itself, free-throw discrepancy doesn't necessarily point to any bias on the part of the referees. Using that stat alone is tantamount to being a fallacy. If we look at all the UAAP Season 74 1st round we can find many games with significant FT disparity, involving many teams, but, curiously enough, it's only this game, and this team, being questioned. I posit that it's simply difficult to figure out a way to solve the Norman Black puzzle, that people simply retreat into these conspiracy theories.
Games with big FT disparities (I'll use the difference of 8 FT shots as my baseline):
8-7-2011 AdMU-FEU: 28-9
8-6-2011 NU-UE: 20-9
8-4-2011 UP-FEU: 33-25
7-24-2011 NU-FEU: 20-7
7-23-2011 AdMU-UE: 32-11
7-17-2011 NU-UP: 25-11
7-14-2011 UE-UP: 17-9
7-14-2011 NU-UST: 23-9
7-10-2011 AdMU-AdU: 27-11
What do these facts tell us?
1) FEU, UE, UP & UST have all been "out-shot" from the stripe. How can this be the case? They love shooting from the outside more than going to the hole. They don't drive strong as often enough as they should. The puzzling thing? They all have "attacking guards," but, again, they don't attack enough. Attack, and the chances of getting hacked are much higher. Settle for the pull-up or the rhythm jumper and it just won't happen as often. A good example? DLSU's LA Revilla has a good shot from range, but he drives and challenges bigs more than he settles for jumpers. He gets to the line much more often than the average player. RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo settle for jumpers too frequently.
FACT: Who are the Top 5 in FT attempts so far? Ray Parks, Greg Slaughter, Alex Nuyles, Kiefer Ravena & LA Revilla. These guys do damage chiefly with drives, putbacks or any form of inside moves. Hence, the probability of them getting fouled is much higher.
2) Does this mean that refs favor Ateneo and NU more than the other teams?
- Only a basket case would believe that. Rather, it means that Ateneo and NU are aggressive on the offensive end. Parks & Emmanuel Mbe have a combined 97 foul shots already. Greg & Kiefer have 80. Again, they penetrate and/or get the ball near the basket.
3) Another thing I take from this is that Ateneo, and perhaps NU also, are well-disciplined when it comes to defending without fouling. Give credit where it is due -- to Norman Black and Eric Altamirano (though Altamirano has yet to find consistency on the offensive end). In those games where they "out-shot" their foes on the line, they played defense without many ticky-tacky fouls.
And as for Slaughter having PBA game experience, how about Aldrech Ramos? Why is his team 4-3 and not 7-0?
I don't expect any of these things, however, to make sense to any reader who has been thoroughly consumed by his own train of thought. So much so that he/she is overly closed to the fact that, ultimately, a game's outcome is contingent on the players and coaches, not on the referees, other game officials, or board members.
Hi, Enzo.
BalasYour comment is an article in itself. Worth being posted in inboundpass, etc. to enlighten all the haters.
Ano Anon pahiya ka gago
BalasIn theory, sure, the playing style of ADMU-defensively and offensively will translate to higher free throws for their team. However, 2 games with a 21 FT shooting disparity, 1 with 15? I will concede that for the four other games, the FT was immaterial to the outcome of the game. BUT when you have three games with that wide of a margin, it will be close to impossible for their opponent to squeeze a win. It's not like the teams are averaging 100 pts like in the professional leagues. Rather, they average roughly 60-80 points. 15 points out of 70 is close to 25%. Are the refs being bought? Maybe, maybe not. But 15-20 disparity, it points to that action!
BalasAgain, no. The other games do show that teams can win despite being on the short end of FT disparity. Winning comes down to so many other things. And, again, FT disparity alone is grossly insufficient proof for any misguided sweeping conclusion.
BalasOn another note, this is absolutely hilarious: http://nonoyforpresident.blogspot.com/2011/08/la-salle-dreaming-too-early.html#comments