Redeem or Four-peat?

RENEWED RIVALRY

FEU is again in the position to stop Ateneo from writing an amazing history.

FEU and ADMU for the third time in the UAAP Finals
since the start of Final-4 format in 1994
Image by the UAAP Sports

Tams and Blue Eagles met twice in the Finals since the start of the Final-4 format in 1994, it was in 2003 and 2010. They have a 1-1 record in their head-to-head match up in the Finals. In 2003 season of UAAP, Tams beat the Blue Eagles in a convincing fashion, the Morayta based team swept the Ateneans that year in their Best-of-Three Finals. They met again in 2010, this time, the Katipunan based squad never won a single game against the Tams in the elimination but they return the favor to the Tamaraws, Blue Eagles swept the Tams in the Finals, 2-0, and it became sweeter for the Ateneans because FEU was not successful in stopping the rare Three-peat of ADMU.

In this 74th season of UAAP it's a REMATCH! but this time we have the reverse situation. The Morayta squad never won a single game in the elimination against the Blue Eagles this year, can FEU retaliate?

LET'S GO BACK TO THEIR FIRST TWO ENCOUNTERS of the Elimination...

FIRST ROUND MATCH UP (Aug.7, 2011): Tams and the reigning MVP RR Garcia started strong in their first meeting threatening the unblemished record of the Eagles then, but the 18-year old rookie Kiefer Ravena have other things in mind, he played an outstanding overall game with the help from Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva, Ateneo won their first encounter, 69-49.

Ateneo dropped an amazing run, they scored 14 straight unanswered points and Defense was the key of the Blue and White team to destroy the Morayta based squad, they held the Tamaraws to poor shooting beyond the arch and overall shooting.

SECOND ROUND MATCH UP (Aug.13, 2011): Again Tamaraws started strong, really strong this time. Everyone thought that FEU will be the first team to beat the unstoppable Blue Eagles. Garcia, Romeo, Cruz, Ramos and the rest of the squad put up a very good fight until the last minute of the regulation but again and again, "The Phenom" Kiefer Ravena put his clutch game and brought the game into overtime. Slaughter and Salva took over the game in the overtime and finished the game and survived the Tams assault. ADMU won again in their second meet up in the elimination, 67-74.

A head shaking win by the Eagles to stay unbeaten that time and went for their 8th consective win. ADMU had another 17-4 crucial run to outplayed FEU in the last quarter and gave them a chance to win it in OT. It was again the defense of Ateneo that gave them the edge over the raging Tams. The blue and white defense held the Tam, and they also controlled the boards and had the rebound advantage.

TAMS COLLAPSED IN THE LAST PART OF BOTH GAMES, CAN THEY CLOSE OUT ATENEO IN THE FINALS?

There was no doubt that FEU could possibly beat Ateneo this season, and they showed that in their last meeting, but they had a big problem in finishing strong and keeping their composure in the latter part of both games and TURNOVERS! was one of the reasons why they couldn't hang on to the game and that was because of the DEFENSE of the Eagles. Tams should limit their give-aways and focus on finishing strong in the game. Closing out Ateneo should be their main goal meanwhile Ateneo should keep attacking and defending well to disrupt the flow of FEU and the most important goal is they will attempt to get their first ever Four-peat. FEU have the momentum but Ateneo have the fresher legs in the start of the Finals? Who will benefit more?

RR Garcia (Reigning MVP)
Image by the UAAP Sports

THE RETURN of JR CAWALING and THE REIGNING MVP, RR GARCIA. Cawaling with their bigmen, Hippolyte Noundou and Christian Sentcheu will return to the team in the Finals. This will create a big impact for the team and another problem for Ateneo. FEU will be big in the Finals with the reinforcement of these three injured players. How will Cawaling, Noundou and Sentcheu play after a long lay-off? Can Noundou and Sentcheu stop the "BIG Slaughter" inside the paint? Is Cawaling the missing link for FEU? Nonetheless the Captain is back! Tams will be a complete team when the Finals start on Saturday. Garcia the last year's MVP should play like an MVP to pull out win or wins over the Eagles. Consistency will be crucial for the reigning MVP, FEU expects Garcia to be the "closer" and finish every game strong. He will go head-to-head with the super rookie Kiefer Ravena. Can the MVP go up to the challenge? Can he give what his team is asking for him? and Can he outplay his counter part Ravena?

Ravena & Slaughter
(image by UAAP Sports)

THE LETHAL COMBINATION

This two will be the biggest head ache of the Tams. "The Phenom" Kiefer Ravena was responsible for the two wins of ADMU over the Tamaraws in the elimination. How can the Tams stop this super rookie? He play mature basketball in every game and became the go-to-guy of the Eagles in this season. He will have a head on collision with the current MVP RR Garcia, how he will this rookie react to a bigger challenge? Ravena is also searching for his fourth straight title and first championship as a senior.

The BIG Greg Slaughter is the biggest player in the league today. He is almost unstoppable inside the paint. He can score and dominate the boards in the shaded area, but, how will this big guy react from double teams? "hard double teams", that weakness was exposed in their game against AdU Falcons in their last game in the elimination, where they got their first lost of the season. Can Ramos, Escoto and the returning Sentcheu be successful on stopping this Big Slaughter? Greg Slaughter is playing an MVP type of game for the whole season and if he can sustain that in the Finals, FEU will have a very very hard time in keeping steps with the top seed Ateneo.

With the help from Nico Salva these three and the rest of the squad could successfuly write the biggest history in the UAAP.

THE BIGGEST QUESTION FOR THE TAMS, CAN THEY RETALIATE FROM LAST YEAR'S LOST AND PREVENT THE VERY FIRST FOUR-PEAT OF THE BLUE EAGLES?

AND

CAN ATENEO BLUE EAGLES SUSTAIN THEIR RUN AND

GET THE FIRST EVER FOUR-PEAT?

UAAP Season 74 Finals

Game on Saturday (September 24, 1988)

3:00 pm @ SMART Araneta Coliseum

ADMU BLUE EAGLES vs FEU TAMARAWS

Game 1 of the Best-of-Three Series

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