Thoughts about the NU Bulldogs’ 71-69 win over the Adamson Falcons

MANILA, Philippines — When Adamson’s Ricky Peromingan trooped to the free throw line with about a second left with an opportunity to send the game against National University to overtime, I thought, “Jeez, this guy is going to miss his shots.”

Aside from the fact that he had not been there all game long, he had this grin on his face that was like, “Oh, shit.”

And shades of Santi Cabatu! He did. Even the purposely missed free throw didn’t stand a chance of his teammates getting a tip-in.

So, NU escaped with a 71-69 win.

Here are my thoughts about the NU Bulldogs in their first game (yes, we know the season is very young). 

• I like how the work ethic they displayed. They look to be in tremendous shape and physical. And they all crash the boards. They have a lot of mobile players who are also interchangeable in terms of position too. Just the way Jeff Napa likes his team to play.
   
• And this was a huge break for Ernest Felicilda who for the longest time had to live in the shadow of his former Bullpup teammates Gerry Abadiano and Terrence Fortea. Felicilda led NU with 14 points on 50% shooting from the field. 
   
• But there is some concern… yes, this was a team win, but they will need more than points coming from Felicilda to win. 
   
• Now that Dave Ildefonso has returned to Ateneo, I was hoping John Lloyd Clemente would step up to the plate. He didn’t exactly impress in the first game of the year. He scored eight points but on 3/15 shooting. 
   
• And it isn’t only JLC. They need to get Issa Gaye untracked. He only scored six points on five field goal attempts. 
   
• In the first half, NU grabbed seven offensive rebounds but only scored two points. Adamson later caught up and scored five markers. NU did better in the second half as they scored nine second chance points and limited Adamson to four second chance points. 
   
• Johnkimwell Figueroa is a huge addition to the Bulldogs. Love his activity and his hustle in and around the shaded lane.
   
• Adamson seemed to be the perfect opening day foe for them as new coach Nash Racela had not had a lot of time to work with his boys.
   
• As for Adamson, they have tremendous upside. Here is how I saw them for that first game.
   
• We all know that Jerom Lastimosa is a darn good point guard. But shades of Val Chauca! He sure lit a fire under Adamson late in the game. Credit though to NU as they threw a double team to force him to give up that ball. 
   
• If NU was getting all the offensive boards in the first half, the Soaring Falcons did better in the second half. 
   
• What a debut for Didat Hanapi. If you watched juniors ball, you would know that Hanapi is good. With Aaron Fermin unavailable due to injury, Hanapi stepped up. Am not surprised he led the team in scoring with 20 points. 
   
• If Joshua Yerro and Vince Magbuhos get going as well, they will help Adamson’s cause. When we first saw Magbuhos years ago, I thought of him as potentially, another player in the mold of former Adamson star, Eric Camson. At this stage of his college career, he should be more bullish and not as a cameo player. As it stands, Figueroa could get more playing time.
   
• Think about this… in spite of not having a lot of time to work on his team, Nash Racela almost got his wards to steal a win. How much more when they are ready?