UAAP 82 men's hoops midterm report: Ateneo and UP

MANILA, Philippines — As expected, the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons are leading the way in UAAP Season 82 cage tourney.

The Blue Eagles, two-time defending champions, are steamrolling the opposition and are the sole undefeated team at 7-0. The Fighting Maroons dropped to 5-2; their only other loss coming at the hands of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers.

Let’s grade the two squads.

Ateneo Blue Eagles (7-0)
Grade: A

They have alternated between sharp and well, finding their way. But they saved their best performance of the first round for UP.  Of course, you know they looked forward to that match up. After all, UP has been making all sorts of noises about winning it all with their souped up line-up.

Even with that big win, there is a sense that Ateneo still has not hit its stride. Isaac Go hasn’t gotten going and so has Tyler Tio and BJ Andrade. And Thirdy Ravena hasn’t been his consistent self. 

This team needs to attack the interior a bit more instead of settling for jumpers. They have jacked up the second most number of three-pointers in the first round with 217 (right behind UST’s 247. At least with UST, they are staying true to their nature. Ateneo is shooting a league-worst 22.58% (only 27 makes) from that range. Last season they had a bit under 200 after the first round. And that was with Anton Asistio and Jolo Mendoza in the line-up.

I don’t even think that is the shot being presented to them. Well, now opponents will because they are shooting at a terrible clip.

They should find their balance and consistency now because teams will try to knock them off their lofty perch. And what a test it is because they will face UST to start the second round.

University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons (5-2)
Grade: B

This is a team that also hasn’t hit its stride. It wasn’t only until recently where they featured a complete line-up even when they played abroad. Some have really struggled to find their place in the offense. 

If you ask me, their situation somewhat mirrors La Salle’s. What the Green Archers are doing now is giving the ones who played well from the summer onwards more playing time while benching the underachievers and some of the newcomers. Can UP afford to do the same? After all, they do have a lot of alpha males on that team.

The trend has showed that this team has Kobe Paras, Bright Akhuetie and Javi Gomez de Liaño as their top performers. Maybe they should go with that while the others fill in the lanes. 

Some have opined they have been lucky as they have dodged some bullets. Better lucky than not. And as I said before, those close shaves will serve them well in the long run. I still maintain that.

At this point, it is about finding their chemistry. And enough about so-called poor officiating. You got your butts kicked plain and simple. 

Next for them is FEU, a team that has been the poster for inconsistency this season. Let’s see how they rebound from their last match.