2011 UAAP: Season Postscript

The Ateneo bonfire marked the end of this UAAP season.  The Blue Eagles had a relatively easy time, going 13-1 in the eliminations.  They also coasted to a relatively easy championship series win over FEU, which was perhaps an easier opponent than Final Four opponent UST.  That said, its time to wrap up the season for the different UAAP teams.

ATENEO:  Won their 4th straight championship relatively easily, featuring a balanced offense and solid and unshaking defense.  While they were not expected to be as dominant, anything less than a title this year would have been a disappointment given the level of competition.  There was no other team that even came close to posing a serious challenge.  While the team will return 9 of its top 12 players, and should also feature the comeback of former rookie of the year Ryan Buenafe, a 5th straight title will probably be a bit more difficult than the 4th.

FEU:  A surprise finalist after a disastrous pre-season where they lost big men Pippo Noundou to injury and Reil Cervantes to the pro ranks, they weathered an inconsistent regular season with a solid Final Four to knock off the higher seeded Adamson team.  The will probably continue to play at the Final Four level next year, with Arvie Bringas coming in to take over the slot vacated by graduating Aldrech Ramos. 

Adamson:  Finished the eliminations as the 2nd seed and was the only team to defeat eventual champion Ateneo, but collapsed in the Final Four and lost back to back games to FEU.  This was unexpected for what was basically a veteran team, which will be significantly weaker next year with the loss of their spitfire guards Alvarez and Canada as well as big man Jan Colina, who was surprisingly ineffective in his last year.

UST:  Surprised many by making it to the Final Four over the more highly touted teams of DLSU and NU.  Karim Abdul gave the team an inside presence and this year's Tigers were more balanced in terms of inside and outside games than previous teams.  Abdul returns together with Ferrer and Teng, but they need to replace significant losses in Camus, Fortuna, and Afuang.

NU:  While producing MVP numbers, Bobby Ray Parks did not mesh well with the holdovers and NU actually won a game less this year than last year when they featured Emmanuel Mbe as the centerpiece.  Mbe started slow and couldn't seem to get his game to mesh with that of Parks.  Most of the holdover players actually seemed to regress with the arrival of Parks.  They will have to find a way to solve this if the team will seriously compete next year.

DLSU:  I think the season can accurately be called a coaching disaster.  Featuring a team with depth at nearly all positions, DLSU disappointed and underperformed.  Dindo's departure, which marks the end of the Pumaren mafia, should be good for the team.  That of course presupposes that the new coach is any better than the previous one.  If rumors are true that Jerod Teng will join them next year together with ex Ateneo prospect Mark Tallo, they should be a team to contend with if the new coach can get the team together.

UP:  Going 2-12 is definitely better than 0-14.  But for as long as you have Mike Gamboa playing significant minutes, you know the team isn't much more than a spoiler.  At least they won an individual award with Jet Manuel winning the Most Improved Player award.  Mike Silungan seems to be nothing more than a gunner who will be a high scorer on a weak team.  He doesn't seem to have the smarts and the game to lead a contending team.

UE:  This was a rebuilding year.  Kudos to graduating Paul Zamar for carrying the load in a year that they were not expected to seriously contend.  They have the support players in place but still need a star to build the team around if they will contend.  Let's see how coach Jerry Codinera does in terms of recruitment.