2010 UAAP: Ateneo Upsets FEU For Three-Peat

After a one-sided game 1, I felt that FEU had to also find a way to blow out Ateneo to have a chance at winning the title.  It seemed a possibility at first, when FEU took a 22-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.  But when halftime ended with only one point separating the teams, I felt it was Ateneo's game to lose.  In fairness to FEU, they did try to make a game out of it despite the humiliation they suffered in game 1, but this FEU team just doesn't have the heart to be a champion team.

For Ateneo, the seem to have peaked at the right time and also displayed the championship character when it mattered.  During the elimination round, the biggest shortcoming of this year's team was the lack of a killer instinct, and the inability to demoralize the opponents to the point that they don't even try to make a comeback.  This was most evident when they lost a 9 point lead in the last 3 minutes to lose to, of all teams, arch-rival La Salle.  This was something that set last year's back-to-back titlists apart...when they took the lead, you didn't even try to mount a comeback because you just knew you couldn't.  This year's team failed to send that message all throughout the elimination round.  They did step up their game a bit in the Final Four, convincingly beating Adamson.  But in that game, they also allowed the Falcons to have hope for victory until the closing minutes.  In game 1 of the finals, however, the long-awaited killer instinct finally came out.  Ateneo sustained its intensity all game long and totally destroyed the favored Tamaraws.  And in game 2, they recovered from a shaky start and played like they were the favorites...that it was, as Kirk Long said, their championship which FEU had to take away.  While the game's big star, Ryan Buenafe, may have been a surprise, the outcome wasn't.  FEU didn't seem to have the heart needed to be a champion team, and was merely a collection of good/talented players, while Ateneo showed the heart that more than made up for whatever talent advantage FEU had.

Last year I felt relief when Ateneo won the championship...as the runaway number 1 team, anything less than a title would have been a disappointment, any loss would have been an upset.  This year I felt pride when they won, and particularly how they won.  They erased all doubts that may have come up during the season and proved that they were as deserving (if not more deserving) than the previous two champion teams.

FEU on the other hand, with last year's and this year's team, would probably be a strong candidate to be the most talented team to not win a championship.  Unfortunately this team just didn't seem to have the heart to match their talent.  They won the regular season on talent alone, and when the championship series came, they didn't have the heart needed to complement the talent.

2010 UAAP: 3-Peat?

After a dominant Game 1 of the 2010 UAAP Finals, Ateneo is one game away from its third straight UAAP championship. While this was always a possibility, it did not seem probable early on...losing a winnable game to FEU on opening day...collapsing in the end game to lose to DLSU of all teams after erecting a 9 point lead with about 3 minutes left...close and unconvincing victories in their other games...losing to UE...at risk of dropping from 2nd (with a twice to beat advantage) to 3rd (and having to beat the opponent twice)...losing the season finale to FEU again to be swept by the Tamaraws in the season series. All of these pointed to a struggling team which was good enough to make it to the finals but did not seem like a champion team. And even after a strong Final Four elimination game to finally beat Adamson convincingly (after two 3-point squeakers in the eliminations), the odds were still stacked against Ateneo.

Then came Game 1 of the Finals.

That game was, in my opinion, Ateneo's single best game this season. It was the only game where I saw them dominate from start to finish, where they did not give their opponents any hope of even trying to mount a comeback. That team flashed a glimpse of the dominant 2009 title team. They routed FEU by 23 points, and made the Tamaraws look like they didn't belong in the Final Four, let alone the championship series. They dominated FEU, and made it look easy. After posting an 18 point lead in the first quarter, and taking the half by 21, the lead was never threatened, going only as low as 16 points before ending up at 23.

That game erased any doubts about Ateneo's ability to win this year. Yes, FEU still leads the head to head matchup 2-1. Yes, they still need to win at least one more game. Yes, FEU has beaten them twice in a row during the elims. But after Game 1, I think all the questions are directed at FEU.

Can they bounce back from the Game 1 thrashing or did that game rip their hearts out? Is Capacio good enough as a coach to come back and win two straight games? Does this FEU team have the heart of a champion? Or are they good or even great individual players who can't come together when they have to?

I think FEU has too much talent to just give up game 2. Then again, I thought they had too much talent to be thrashed the way they were in game 1...