Adjustments Matter

The nice thing about a basketball series, whether it's a best-of-three, or a best-of-seven, is there's always room for adjustments. It is not uncommon to see a team losing the first game of the series, and bouncing back in the second. After getting a glimpse of what went wrong, the losing team gets to tweak their strategy for the next game knowing full well what they have to work on. The danger for the winning team is that they don't have a clear idea of what they can improve on since they came out with a W. That makes them vulnerable targets for the second game.

Just like the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

UE coach Lawrence Chongson knew what went wrong in game 1. So he addressed it in the second game. Rabeh Al-Hussaini punished them for 28 big points. Nonoy Baclao forced their bigs into offensive struggles. The Red Warriors got beat on the glass.

So he made adjustments. He tightened up on Rabeh, even if meant giving up a lot of three-pointers. He took Baclao out of the paint by having his big men hoist up shots from the outside. With the big men out of position, he had his guards outhustle the Ateneo guards to get plenty of rebounds.

It was a high-risk, high-reward situation for UE. Giving up open threes to the #1 3 point shooting team in the UAAP isn't an easy decision to make. The Red Warriors were fortunate that the shots didn't drop for the Blue Eagles (20% from 3 point range). Elmer Espiritu and Pari Llagas operated mainly on the outside, forcing Baclao to move out of the paint. Yes, they felt that the high-percentage shot was the one from a further distance. This also neutralized Ateneo's rebounding edge by forcing the guards to fight for the boards, and credit goes to guys like Rudy Lingganay, Raphy Reyes and Lucas Tagarda for battling all night long.

It was a risky strategy, yes. But it paid off. Man, did it ever. UE won 88-68, handing Ateneo coach Norman Black his worst loss in his four-year collegiate basketball coaching career. The risks were there, but really, it doesn't at all feel out of character for these Red Warriors to gamble in this sort of situation. That's what got them here.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot. UE may have to momentum, but the Blue Eagles have the advantage of making adjustments.

In other words, it's your move now, Norman Black.

And after he makes that move, somebody will be in checkmate. Whether its UE or Ateneo that comes out on top will depend on Black getting this move right. Just like how Chongson got it right in Game 2.