Liveblogging: Ateneo vs. De la Salle!

Given my almost dismissive attitude towards the basketball rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle, it should come as no surprise that I am devoting this entry towards live blogging their final encounter this UAAP season. As Winston Churchill, who was then quoted more famously by John F. Kennedy, once said, "I would rather be right than consistent." There's no denying the simple fact that for many of my friends, the Ateneo-La Salle game represents more than just a frenetically charged hoops encounter between two storied rivalries. It's an event of, if not quite biblical, then certainly epic proportions.

Besides, in lieu of braving it out with the rest of our hoops-crazy friends, we decided to watch the game, suitably fortified with chips and drinks, at St. John, the preschool that my sons go to.

2:16 pm.

Just went over Rafe Bartholomew's response to the good-natured ribbing he got over his New York Times article on the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry. Judging from the elegantly irreverent entries he posts on his blog, I believe him when he says that the New York Times editors had a lot to do with the blandness of the published work.

Ralph just came in to set up. He reports that the other members of our Ateneo barkada finally got tickets to the game. Just when Ralph starts warming up, Tina starts talking about work. Ralph quickly decides to activate Robo-Ralph, a barely functional operating system that he trots out during emergencies so he can continue to work on something more important. It's sort of like Parallels Desktop for the Mac, only funnier, because Robo-Ralph is unfailingly polite, and almost as bland as a feature article on Philippine sports worked over by the New York Times. Good times!

2:35 pm.

Still no Papot, or Ther. My sister Joey, her husband Mike, and my godson Miguel are here though. In totally unrelated news, I still can't find a picture of La Salle hotshot JV Casio, though there are millions of pictures for Ateneo shooter Chris Tiu. Anyone care to posit a theory for this?

Robo-Ralph's busy trying to look for "work" to do, while Ralph tries to figure out how to configure to couches in front of the TV so that people can watch, grab food and drinks, make snarky comments, and not cut in front of the TV. The logistics involved in the entire operation are mind-boggling. He might need diagrams soon. Joey's bugging Ralph about his arrangements. Fortunately, Robo-Ralph is still active, so her sarcasm is met with pleasantries. Deep inside, Ralph is dying. But in the interests of the ol' alma mater, he will make sacrifices. "To give, and not to count the cost..."

2:47 pm.

Papot and Ther are here! Now the whooping can start in earnest.

2:57 pm.

The endless dancing on Studio 23 was beginning to grate on all of us. Thank God, the pregame's on. There's some shooting game going on, and Mike begins the festivities by commenting on the performance of the Ateneo alumni shooters. "And that zero was brought to you by the Ateneo!"

Robo-Ralph's still doing "work".

3:07 pm.

Game time! Nobody can work an audience into a frenzy like my old professor, Sev Sarmenta. He's using his best stuff right now, and the crowd goes wild! Well, the St. John crowd goes wild, at least. Happily, Sev looks much the same, and the touch of silver seems to be working wll for him. Some men would kill for his full head of hair. I'm babbling, I know.

Still no game. The suspense is killing Ralph. Both of him.

3:23 pm.

Finally! Ateneo wins the tip. Not that it means anything, in the greater scheme of things. Turnover! On the next possession, La Salle scores. Damn! We have to find a solution to that trapping defense.

Thank God that Malabes remains the shooter who can't shoot. He's keeping Ateneo in the game. Francis Zamora and I had a conversation about him last night. He's trying to find ways to keep Malabes chained to the bench.

3:38 pm.

Long strips Maierhofer, but his pass is almost picked off before Escueta retrieves the deflection before being fouled going to the hoop. He he. I just wrote "Long strips Maierhofer". I'm suddenly afraid that a Google search might find me lumped in with pornographic or slash fiction sites.

3:43 pm.

Salamat with a picture perfect drop pass to a cutting Al-Husseini. I don't know what annoys me more about the previous sentence: that I have to concentrate while spelling Al-Husseini, or that I ruined a perfectly good alliteration by specifying that Salamat delivered an excellent drop pass.

3:48 pm.

And an Eric Salamat steal makes it 14-16. La Salle's on top, but a succession of heady plays from Salamat got Ateneo within two. I'm still resisting the urge to make the all-too-obvious pun. Still, Salamat!

4:08 pm.

I'm starting to worry, and not about the team. Ralph's about to burst a vein, and Chris Padilla is the oldest man in the room, so we might have a problem if Ateneo doesn't win. Every possession is a cardiac concern.

Malabes continues to provide hope...for Ateneo. May he never stop looking for his shot!

End of half, and La Salle is ahead, 29-26.

4:35 pm.

"Ateneo has never beaten La Salle four times in the same season." Not that Samsung Mobile is trying to put even more pressure on Ateneo. Facts are facts, after all. Here's another one. "Samsung has never sold more mobile phone units than Nokia." Two can play that game, Samsung.

For some reason, the "big" men of Ateneo, and I use the term here loosely, have played underwhelming basketball. If it weren't for guards Chris Tiu and Jai Reyes we would still be scoreless.

4:40 pm.

Arao finally gets the ball in the post. Two points! More of that, please!

Eric Salamat and Ford Arao go to the line two more times and nail all their free throws. La Salle is up, 40-39, but Ateneo's on a run. Isn't life grand when your players nail their free throws? Norman Black seems to agree, as he's showing more color now than at the start of the coverage. And no, I'm not going into color at this point. Suffice to say, Coach Black was a trifle pale when the game began.

5:01 pm.

Our "big" men have yet to assert themselves in this game, while our guards are killing themselves penetrating and dropping off to our hapless behemoths. This doesn't look good. I could live with a defeat, but Ralph and Chris are on the verge of collapse.

Ty Tang is killing us! He's nailed several shots to beat the shot clock already.

5:06 pm.

Salamat makes a gutsy drive, and one, to put Ateneo within six, 55-49. Hope springs eternal.

5:23 pm.

Jai Reyes for 3! It's now 60-62, La Salle ahead with 12 seconds. We have to foul.

5:24 pm.

We fouled the wrong guy. Rico Maierhofer, concluding a sterling performance at the wing, ices it with a free throw. La Salle wins 65-60. Chris Tiu winds up with more rebounds (8) than any of the Ateneo "big" men. Should we even dignify them with the term "big" after this disastrously Lilliputian effort? I'm exhausted! Congratulations to the Green Archers!


Photo Credits:

Picture of Chris Tiu comes courtesy of Aaron Vicencio's Photo Galleries.