Ateneo or la salle? who's your bet?

[cryptkpr]

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MVP - Rabeh Al-Hussaini
Rookie of the Year - Ryan Buenafe
Defensive Player of the Year - Nonoy Baclao
Most Improved Player - Rabeh Al-Hussaini
Mythical Five - Al-Hussaini, Cruz, Maierhoffer, Casio, Tiu


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Ateneo sweeps MVP, top rookie honors
By Joey Villar
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Ateneo, a win away from bagging its first UAAP crown in six years, will have three more reasons to celebrate with another victory against La Salle tomorrow.

The league will officially fete Eagles Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Chris Tiu and Ryan Buenafe as three of the best performers in Season 71 in tomorrow’s awarding rites in Game 2 of the UAAP finals at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-6 Al-Hussaini, a Fil-Kuwaiti, is this year’s Most Valuable Player, Tiu a member of the Mythical First Team and Buenafe the Rookie of the Year.

“Yes,” said Ateneo board representative Ricky Palou when asked by The STAR if Al-Hussaini has clinched the league’s highest individual plum.

“I got the list of all awardees, and (Ryan) Buenafe is Rookie of the Year.”

Last year’s MVP Jervy Cruz of University of Santo Tomas and La Salle’s JV Casio and Rico Maeirhofer will join Al-Hussaini and Tiu in the dream first team cast.

“Imagine Al-Hussaini, Cruz, Maierhofer, Tiu and Casio together, that’s a dream team ,” Palou said.

Marichu Bacaro of UST and Mark Juruena of Adamson, meanwhile, will be named MVPs in the women’s and juniors’ divisions, respectively.

Studio 23, a UHL channel of television giant ABS-CBN which telecasts the UAAP and NCAA games, will also fete several others on its own, including Al-Hussaini (Most Improved Player) and Nonoy Baclao, also of Ateneo, (Defensive Player of the Year).

Studio 23 will also honor Tiu with a special citation and an all-Rookie team composed of Buenafe, Ateneo’s Nicolas Salva, La Salle’s LA Revilla and Joshua Webb and UST’s Clark Bautista.

[miel]

@cryptkpr
im not saying that la salle doesnt go with the best players. if u have read my post i said there that is NORMAL for every team to court top notch high school players and freelancers. and with regards to my first post where all this have started, la salle is better because they form their roster better by having complimenting players. The team wins the game not the players. AIGHT?

i'd rather be the best rather than the rest... one big fart!

[miel]

[kamikaze426]

Tan-aw nako naa ni game 3.

[miel]

@cryptkpr
instead of posting crazy pictures, googleing the history of UAAP, throwing crap from side to side and looking for morality loop holes why dont you post something of your opinion that why on earth Ateneo will win tom and secure the title (at last). isn't it the subject of the thread?

making bad publicity doesnt help a team win championships.

i dont know what personal gain ur getting doing this", and that is what ABSURD is.

so again. why do u think ateneo will win tom? ayt?
peace bro. just go with the topic and stop posting OT opinions. if u want u can make another thread why ateneo is better than la salle and i would gladly post.

[edgeknife]

tan-awn nato ugma... hopefully champion na na!!! cryptlpr, chillax sa hehehe.... kang miel sa karong adlawa pero ateneo gani ma champion ugma, aw amo napud nang backfire...

[cryptkpr]

@miel
i apologize for my posting of the vl salle pic... the other pictures i posted were taken from the game. i'm pretty sure that none of my posts were suggesting or insinuating that ateneo was better than la salle. we all know that topic can go on forever and each school has its own advantages/disadvantages.

i was merely replying to your post on la salle passing up on the best HS players out there and what they did to get them.

anyway, moving on to the finals...

the first reason why i think ateneo would win this year is that the blue eagles are no longer the team that gets rattled every time the other team plays them physical. the blue eagles are showing mental and physical toughness. they have this "angas" factor that the previous teams lacked, e.g. 2006. this has been missing since the enrico-wesley days, except for tenorio who always had this toughness, wherein guys could play physical but not dirty. when they get shoved and pushed, they shove and push back. these guys proved that they can be tough when needed. IMO, this was also the thing that the 14-0 UE red warriors lacked last season that's why la salle was able to sweep them in the finals.

my second point would be ateneo's defense. unlike the previous teams who failed to make it all the way (intal-macky-kramer), these teams were known for their offense rather than their defense. once the team's offense doesn't click, they stay in the game because their defense holds up. despite ateneo's eye-popping 23 or 25 turnovers, la salle was not able to capitalize on these extra possessions because of ateneo's transition defense. ateneo even outscored la salle 14-2 on fastbreak points.

and with that defense, ateneo was able to limit la salle's numbers. yes, casio had 20 points but had to bleed for them. he got his 20 points on 24 shots, making only a third of it. never mind if both casio and maierhoffer get their points as long as the other archers don't get theirs. as long as barua, mangahas, atkins, villanueva and the rest are not able to put up their numbers, ateneo will be in a position to win almost every game.

thirdly, ateneo doesn't live and die with chris tiu. ateneo has won two straight games with tiu scoring only two points. the previous teams which fell short of the title lived and died by their best player, e.g. intal, tenorio. this team has a lot of weapons that other players step up when tiu has a sub par game. salamat, jai and buenafe always step up when needed.

lastly, the players have learned to channel their emotions properly. rabeh would be the best example. in 2006 and 2007, rabeh has seen limited minutes since he always gets into foul trouble, complains when calls don't go his way and gets frustrated. this year, he has matured a lot and has played smart basketball. when he gets a bad call, he goes back and plays defense, grab the boards and try to make up for the last play during the next offensive possession. this kind of maturity is evident with the rest of the team as they keep their focus to not deviate from the coach's game plan.

my apologies again... peace bro!

ONE BIG FIGHT!!!

[voltes5]

Go La Salle!!!!

[cryptkpr]

Thursday is Tiu's-day! ONE BIG FIGHT!!!

[chino5150]

go blue eagles! fyt fyt fyt!!!