LAKERS TAKE GAME 1!

Let me crow here a bit.

The Lakers were as good as I thought they would be. But the Magic were worse than I thought they would be.

Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, and added 8 rebounds and 8 assists (who I predicted would explode against Pietrus and Lee). So much for Kobe getting old and slow. 

Pau Gasol had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. So much Gasol being soft and easily dominated by Howard, who definitely wasn't Superman tonight (like I predicted).

My prediction was Lakers over Magic, 100-88. Final score was Lakers over Magic, 100-75. I think I earned my money this week.

WHY THE EAGLES WON

By this time, you must have watched, read or had the Ateneo victory described to you in detail. I will not add to the legion of sports recappers and, instead, will focus on analyzing key facets of the game. 

The sheer amount of things to talk about is gargantuan, therefore, I will make this a 3-part blog.

First we take on the winning Ateneo side.

WHY ATENEO WON

1) Rabeh Al-Hussaini - If there were any doubts about this guy's MVP worthiness, it got erased by his masterful Game 1 performance, logging in 31 points and 8 rebounds. Al-Hussaini started out rather tentatively, betraying jittery nerves as he shot just 1-5 in the first quarter, missing the mid range jumpers he would later on hit with amazing regularity. I don't know what coach Norman Black said to him but as soon as Al-Hussaini stepped on to the court in the third quarter, he stamped his class all over the La Salle interior defense. The ferocity he showed right from the start of the 3rd quarter got his teammates fired up, leading to a 12-0 run that La Salle never recovered from. 

2) Ryan Buenafe - He's a rookie playing in his first UAAP championships as part of the most explosive and bitter rivalry in the history of Philippine collegiate basketball. Everyone would understand and forgive him if he succumbed to the pressure of the big game. Instead, Ryan Buenafe scores Ateneo's first 2 points, grabs an offensive rebound and dishes out to Al-Hussaini for an uncontested lay up, has 7 of Ateneo's 11 points with time running out in the first quarter, almost has a double double by the half (10pts, 8 rebs) and plays like a heady veteran in crunch time. A lot of basketball pundits were surprised to see Buenafe starting but I think Buenafe has certainly made his case. And yes, Rookie of the year is a foregone conclusion.

3) Nonoy Baclao - 7 blocks. Including two momentum breaking blocks on La Salle big men Rico Maierhofer and James Managahas. Baclao forced Maierhofer into a traveling violation after he stuffed the ball back into Maierhofer's face and he sent Mangahas crashing to the deck and the ball into Archer territory with a swat that would have done Dennis Rodman proud. Had either Maierhofer or Managhas made their shots, La Salle would have been in striking distance once again.  Any kind of momentum would have propelled the Archers past the Eagles. But instead, Baclao's blocks resulted into 2 La Salle turnovers and an 8 point swing (4 La Salle points gone with the block and 4 points on the ensuing Ateneo possession, courtesy of Al-Hussaini). 

4) Team Maturity -  La Salle forced Ateneo into 15 first half turnovers, their average per game. Ateneo barely even flinched. La Salle took its first lead on a Casio 3 point play. Ateneo immediately took it back. La Salle hacked and fouled at every opportunity. Ateneo canned their free throws calmly. In the end, La Salle's frantic, frenetic energy was not enough to shake Atenean composure...which is why Ateneo ended up on top.

5) Unselfishness and Team Play - There are several reasons why Al-Hussaini ended up with 31 points...and those reasons are named Buenafe, Reyes, Salamat and Tiu. These guys penetrated, dished out, bounced off and did everything humanly possible to get Al-Hussaini in the best position to succeed...and Al-Hussaini's success was their success.

Next up, why La Salle lost...

TOLD YA SO.

DLSU wins the tiebreaker match over FEU, 62-59 and now enjoys a twice-to-beat advantage over the Tamaraws.

Leading the way for the Archers were JV Casio (16 pts, 4 rebs, 4 assists) and Rico Maierhofer (14 pts plus a ton of offensive rebounds). Providing ample support were Malabes and Atkins, whose 3rd quarter effort pushed the Archers from a 2 point deficit to a 10pt lead in about half a quarter. But when FEU made that final push, it was Maierhofer with an unexpected threepointer and JV Casio with a beautiful spin move who put the game away.

For the Tamaraws, it was their big men (Cervantes and the comebacking Baracael) who proved to be the biggest horn in the Archers' side even as Barroca and Knuttel had subpar games. Despite their struggles, the Tams still had a chance to tie the game (Cawaling's threepointer rimmed out) proving that DLSU is far from invincible.

This weekend, DLSU and Ateneo try to forge another dream match up. Will they succeed?

WHATTA GAME! Boston wins Game 1, 98-88!

It was a great basketball game.

Lead changes, highlight reel plays, smothering D, diving and clawing for loose balls, clutch shots...

It even featured the dead coming back to life, as Pierce bucked a sprained knee that had him writhing and crying, then hobbling off to the dugout before coming back to score 11 points in the second half and lead Boston to victory with 24pts.

KG, after a nervouse showing in the first few minutes, settled down to his old role of demolisher (did you see that dunk?!) and proved you don't have to be The Man to be a man.

And Ray Ray seems to have found his form and rained down 19pts in able wingman support.

Still, Kobe just scored in the mid 20's and we know he's capable of going for forty for 4 straight games.

Game 2 should be interesting but I'm still calling it for the Celtics.