Breaking down the Mapua-EAC game via passes

MANILA, Philippines -- The Mapua Cardinals defeated the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 101-72, last Friday.

While there is an obvious difference between the talent level of the two teams, I wanted to see how they attacked each other’s defense in terms of passing and if there is any consistency.

Fewer passes, three or less, possibly but not at all times, indicate a fastbreaking style. Sometimes on the deliberate halfcourt set, the first pass it to the receiver who gives it to the first option who fires away.

The idea is when you pass the ball around, you stretch the defense and find the open man.

How accurate is the data? I’d say close to 90% as I was taking down volumes of notes.

Here are the results.

Legend: “Score” means a two-pointer, three-pointer, or free throw. And a “miss” covers all three as well except no score was made due to a miss or a blocked shot. A “TO” or “turnover” covers offensive fouls, errors, violations, jump balls.

Take note that the numbers represent attempts not points.

The Cardinals shot 51 percent from the field.

During the first quarter, they tried to set up Allwell Oraeme rather unsuccessfully. They began to play better in the second period when Stephen Que found the range. By the third period, they began to run the break better allowing them to score on a lot of easy baskets.

The Cardinals are a team that likes to walk it up if they can since they have a stud in Oraeme up front. Plus, they have the shooters to light it up and to spread that zone.

The same cannot be said for EAC. Francis Munsayac is their best threat from the outside. Their best bet is to quicken the pace of the match as they have players who can run and finish the break in Munsayac, Christopher Mejos, and Sidney Onwubere. Look at those numbers – they scored 30x on three or fewer passes! How did they do this? They outrebounded MIT, 43-40, and that allowed them oft to get off the break.

It is in their best interests to push up that ball quickly as opposed to walking it up.

What’s the point of this? Let’s see if a team can be more efficient in running their offense if they know what their strengths are.

Of course, we will try to gather more data about this for other NCAA matches.