UAAP 82 men's hoops midterm report: UE and NU

MANILA, Philippines — Everyone knew that the University of the East Red Warriors had re-armed while the National University Bulldogs’ young guns had soaked in some experience.

Is it enough to get them out of the bottom tier?

University of the East Red Warriors (2-5)
Grade: D

For UE, I think it is about the lack of experience? How many were in the line-up the previous season – Chris Conner, Philip Manalang, Jojo Antiporda and Nick Abanto. So, there is that lack of game experience.

This team though is built to compete now. Because they have two one-and-dones in Rey Suerte and Jed Mendoza. They will lose Manalang after this season. 

Speaking of Suerte… the answer to the question why he is performing and Jayvie Mantilla of UP isn’t is – he is getting playing time and the ball while the latter is glued on the bench because there are others ahead in the pecking order.

For rookie Harvey Pagsanjan, he will learn from watching Suerte. And that will help him in the coming seasons. In that big win over DLSU, he passed the ball to Suerte. And to think Harvey was the top dog with Hope Christian High School. That shows an understanding of the game and a willingness to subvert one’s self for the better of the team. He will get better because of that.

Is this first round disappointing? Just a bit. They know they could have probably won one other game. Management knows they are building for the future. And that means getting more wins so they can build on that for the upcoming seasons. 

They know they have a good team and if they start out the second round well, they could crowd for a Final Four berth.

Imagine, if they had more experience collectively. 

Can’t overlook these guys this second round.

National University Bulldogs (1-6)
Grade: F

After that big win over FEU, they fell flat with a loss to UE. They lost their first four games of the season with the final possession so in theory, they should have a better record than this. It is what it is though. 

Having said that, I have previously written on several occasions that these Bulldogs will need this season to learn so by next year (Season 83), they will do better. I love how they have progressed from the summer leagues leading up to the UAAP. I saw them get better, play better.

Does that mean they should be at the bottom?

Nope. They have more experience as a team than the Red Warriors. As it is, they lost. And that has to be deflating.

I thought that Miguel Oczon getting called up and understanding his place on the team was a nice touch. He knows that there are the studs like Dave Ildefonso and John Lloyd Clemente. 

I know that Jonas Tibayan is playing better, but they really need him, Larry Mangayao and Tzaddy Rangel to play better. Because they need Issa Gaye to stay in the game and not on the bench. Among the foreign players, Gaye is second to Adamson’s Lenda Douanga with the most number of fouls. He needs to stay on the floor for NU to make a firm second round push.

And speaking of the second round, their match against La Salle is literally sink or swim.