The First Round of Season 74 for the UAAP Men's Basketball Tournament has recently been 'booked in the history books, as the Ateneo Blue Eagles fnished off all of its assignments to the tune of a 7-0 sweep, whilst the Adamson Soaring Falcons continue to impress critics and observers alike with their much improved defense and tenacity. As for the rest of the league, the FEU Tamaraws and the DLSU Green Archers are still figuring out how to consistently bring out the best of their rotations while finding the will to win they've lost in the last few games, while NU has become a sort of dissapointment after a much ballyhooed and hyped pre-season. As for UP and UE, they continue to search for their identity as ball clubs and to scrape the bottom of the standings.
After the first weekend of the 2nd round, the same observations could still be said and my well become a continuing trend as the cage wars continues. While you be a loyal Eagle, Archer, Maroon or Tiger, you cannot deny the fact that there is a select group of players, no matter what color or school is emblazoned on their jerseys, that continue to stand out from the crop and enthrall us with their performances. In this first (official!) post of the Basketball Banter, I attempt to map out the ten best players in the league. In selecting the players, I factor in their contributions to their teams (points, rebounds, assists, all that stat jazz), as well as their individual performances. Note that the 'winning factor' is not in the equation, even as most of the players on this list are part of winning teams; the case being that some stars really play on so-so teams, whilst others are stable contributers to winning teams.
Without further ado, the BB Round 1 (plus 1 weekend) Mythical Teams:
First Team
G- Kiefer Ravena, ADMU (14.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.5 SPG)
You may know him as "The Phenomenon", and there's no reason to argue against that point. He has been doing everything humanly possible for the defending champs; he can score off the dribble, catch and shoot, pass off double teams and seemingly repair broken offenses like instant glue. Through the first few games, I had doubts in his ability to play defense agains the bigger, stronger and faster guards in the league. But after his perfect masterpiece against archrivals DLSU, those doubts just went out of the window. The other teams (except Adamson) have yet to figure out how to contain him, yet the scary thought is that he has yet to master his prodigious talents. If all goes well, we may see a Rookie of the Year/MVP winner for the Blue and White faithful.
G- RR Garcia, FEU (15.6 PPG, 3 APG, 11/44 3pt, 31.8 MPG)
After a quick start from where he left off, the defending MVP now sits between what could be a sweet spot and a hard place. He's putting up similar numbers from his previous campaign, yet his team has yet to give him the kind of support he has enjoyed for the last two seasons. With JR Cawaling (2-3 weeks) and Pipo Noundou (entire season) out, Garcia will have a harder time carrying the team to a respectable finish. If he is not able to deliver the goods during crunch time in this second round, then it seems that the chances for FEU to get the 'chip and glory again would dwindle as fast as the so-called hype of the Heatles.
F- Bobby Ray Parks Jr., NU (17.3 PPG, 6.5 PRG, 1.4 SPG, 1.1 BPG)
Another hyped rookie, many observers pointed out that with Parks and a certain hardworking center in tow, plus a scrappy group of veterans and youngsters, that the Bulldogs may finally get out of their Final Four slump. After eight tries, Parks has yet to live up to the status many in the media have emblazoned on him. He has the athletic scoring ability, shooting and handle of a typical big American guard, yet he still has to develop the consistency in taking over games. The 30 point explosion he had against UP showed some glimmer of his talent and how much he can still be a threat on the court.
F- Alex Nuyles, ADU (15.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 33.3% 3PT, 28.3 MPG)
The versatile swingman is clearly making an early case for the MVP award, not only because of his much improved scoring and defense, but also because of his leadership and newfound ability in the clutch. His pull up jumper with only 0.8 seconds left against DLSU stunned the Green faithful and kept the Falcons believing that they could challenge their avian foes (in actuality, the Falcons is the only team to pose a true threat now against the Eagles). Am expecting him to take the team to a Top 2 berth and its not far off that they could make the Finals.
C- Greg Slaughter, ADMU (14 PPG, 48.78% FG, 9 RPG, 2.3 BPG)
The Fil-Am bigman, along with Ravena, obviously form the guard-center combo that has everyone pumped up and excited in the league. But on his own, Slaughter can... well butcher the competition. Even against tall centers such as Mba, Mbe and the rest of the Africans, as well as Aldrech Ramos, he has been able to consistently find ways to contribute, either in the post or on the boards. If he's able to develop his jumpshot and add more post moves, this calm giant may very well spell "Duncan" while holding a first place medal.
Second Team:
G- Jeric Fortuna, UST (16 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, 16/41 3pt)
Has greatly improved his ability to score whilst maintaining his stready production from the 3 point line. In clear separation from the other Jeric, he has taken the keys of the team and is poised to lead the Tigers to more wins. Expect his numbers to go up as the season moves along.
G- LA Revilla, DLSU (10.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.8 SPG)
The lone bright spot on the Archers, LA is showing signs that he is the alpha dog among wannabes and has-beens. He took a hit in production the past few games, but if he can't find his groove back, expect the Archers to sit back and watch other teams breeze throgh them with ease. Torres and the other bigs should just wait in the post for gimmes from this spark plug instead of chucking perimeter shots.
F- Kirk Long, ADMU (9 PPG, 3.1 APG, 36.36% 3PT, 28.4 MPG)
Clearly the best (looking) perimeter defender in the league, they should be naming the Defensive Player of the Year award after him. Although taking a knock on scoring and percentage numbers, he still gets it done, whether its passing on the fast break or knocking down the timely 3. He still finishes on the break like how LeBron would finish in the 4th quarter.
F- Nico Salva, ADMU (12.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 77.27% FT, 26.6 MPG)
When the super-rookies were not doing their usual thing against FEU last Saturday, Kobe's protege kept stabbing away at the isolation defenses with timely jumpers and footwork that would make Mr. 24 proud. He has developed the mentality that in order to win basketball games with the team, he has to sacrifice, live in the offense and play PROPER defense.
C- Emmanuel Mbe, NU (11.5 PPG, 52.38% FG, 8.1 RPG, 1.9 BPG)
Talk about Sophomore Slumps! The big man from the Congo still puts up the defensive numbers we've come to expect from him and he has recently exploded against UE last Saturday, yet he still lacks the post footwork and soft touch to be truly dominant in the league. That, and he has to have a staredown with Slaughter. I would pay extra to see that.
Honorable Mentions: Jett Manuel (UP), Jeric Teng (UST), Chris Camus (UST), Eric Camson (ADU), Lester Alvarez (Adamson), Emman Monfort (ADMU), Karim Abdul (UST), Paul Zamar (UE), Aldrech Ramos (FEU), Jarelan Tampus (DLSU)
