UAAP thoughts: On Adamson, Ateneo's Kouame, NU and UP's Juan Gomez De Liaño

MANILA, Philippines – This past weekend, we saw teams get back at some first round tormentors while others got back on the winning track. Here are four points we gleaned from these matches:

Adamson (7-2) got that elusive win over DLSU (5-4)

There are two ways of looking at the Falcons’ 57-50 win — either they got that Green Archers off their collective backs (after three years of futility) or as they say, naka-isa lang. Whatever it is, this is a season of big firsts for Adamson. They have picked up huge wins over long times foes Ateneo and La Salle. They are winning in the clutch. And they are finding different heroes to get the job done.

One common denominator is the last five outings is how the veterans have found that level of consistency — Jerrick Ahanmisi (he was always consistent), Sean Manganti and Papi Sarr with strong play from Jerie Pingoy.

All this will serve them well as the tournament goes on. 

How good can Angelo Kouame really get?

One will say, “Prince Orizu wasn’t there to stop him” during Ateneo’s 82-62 win that put them in second place in the team standings at 7-2. Sure, he wasn’t. Injuries (and suspensions as Arvin Tolentino was docked for another game) are part of the game. You cannot bemoan that. Besides, if one doesn’t, you can always come back and say, “He wasn’t there but this team did not take advantage of that absence” and Ateneo missed three key players in Matt and Mike Nieto (for the second consecutive game) and Thirdy Ravena to suspension.

Kouame has been solid against everyone dating back to the summer. He has had the odd game or two where he didn’t play well, but wait until he realizes his potential.

Besides, you can always say that in previous years, Orizu had one up on Ateneo’s Chib Ikeh. 

That is not the point of who is better. The premise is, how good can Ange Kouame get?

With every game, his confidence soars. He finished with 33 points, 27 rebounds, and an assist, steal, and block.

Awesome numbers that helped Ateneo top the offensive and defensive rankings for the week.

I’d like to sneak in some credit to the FEU Tamaraws (5-4) who even when they were down massive continued to play hard and tried to execute their offense. That shows their determination which will also motivate them for their next match up.

Sorely needed win by NU

The Bulldogs needed to beat a good team. And they did, 69-61, over the soaring UST Growling Tigers to go to 3-6. As I said with the previous point with Kouame, NU took advantage of UST not having Steve Akomo and pounded the Tigers inside to the tune of 38-14 points. 

The Bulldogs also got the best showing of Troy Rike this season as NU had four players in double digits.

A cause for concern though was that UST, with its smaller lineup, outrebounded NU, 53-41. Aldin Ayo’s boys also grabbed 21 offensive rebounds but only managed eight second-chance points. UST likewise shot more free throws. And the Tigers had subpar games from rookies CJ Cansino and Joshua Marcos, who has struggled big time in the last few matches. Cut them slack though, they are rooks.

The Tigers fell to 4-5 but are still on the outside looking in.

And lastly, Juan Gomez De Liaño is merely showing his potential

It was a closer game this time around as opposed to their season opener. It was the same result, as UP won, 94-81, over UE (1-8) to improve to 4-5. But how about Juan Gomez De Liaño? In our preseason preview about UP, we pointed to JGDL at the player to watch. And he has proven that right.

A triple-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. He was making things happen on both ends of the court. Juan is a special talent. And he has plenty of years to play in the UAAP. Watch out!