Arwind Santos finds FEU effort lacking in Game 2 loss
Former FEU forward Arwind Santos took in Wednesday's UAAP finals Game 2 loss to NU in the very front row of the patron section at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. No doubt he was disappointed to see the Tamaraws stumble to the Bulldogs 62-47, the result of a nasty, ornery, tireless NU defense.
Santos had his ideas on how the game was lost, and how the Tams could bounce back to bring a first title to Morayta since 2005, when Santos cut the nets against DLSU.
“Kulang ang hustle ng FEU,” he assessed grimly after the game. “Hindi dapat ganun ang nilalaro sa finals.”
“Ang laki ng inimprove ng NU pero ang level ng FEU bumaba. Sa finals dapat ibinubuhos mo lahat ng kakayahan mo. Kumbaga, no more tomorrow.”
This sentiment was echoed by FEU coach Nash Racela.
“When you go to the playoffs, you give everything you got. The X and Os are just the structure.”
“In a lot of 50-50 plays naunahan by NU,” added the coach. “NU got 27 offensive rebounds. It's hard to win when you give your opponent 27 extra possessions.”
“We got outhustled and outrebounded,” admitted Racela.
NU also won the total rebounding battle to the tune of 58 to 39.
Nine of the Bulldogs' 27 offensive boards were courtesy of Bulldog Troy Rosario, who shone in the eyes of Santos.
“May skills na siya, dribbling, shooting. Ang kailangan lang i-improve is defense and decision-making. At hindi na-istop ng FEU ang offensive rebounds niya.”
Rosario led all scorers with nineteen markers, a startlingly high number for such a low-scoring game.
Santos also identified another culprit for FEU's demise.
“Wala outside shooting. Nag sho-shoot naman ang FEU pero walang maipapasok.”
FEU hit only three of eighteen from beyond the arc, for just 16.67%. Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia combined could only make two of ten attempts.
For sure NU's defense takes a lot of credit for FEU's horrendous 17 for 61 shooting afternoon, just 27.87%.
“What I love about NU is that they don't gamble on defense,” noted ABS-CBN commentator TJ Manotoc. “They don't go for risky steals and instead they play honest D.”
The Bulldogs stole the ball just four times, but unveiled a fundamentally sound defense on seemingly every play. Their transition defense was also excellent, as it helped slow the game to laborious half-court crawl, the preferred playing style of NU coach Eric Altamirano.
NU stormed to an early 22-6 lead as their stingy defense forced FEU into bad shot selection and individualistic plays. FEU eventuall found some rhythm, getting as close as six points in the final quarter before a pair of Gelo Alolino treys finally put Far Eastern out of commission.
Santos had no complaints about the game plan of Racela. But he does recognize that there is only so much a coach can do in a game like this.
“Nasa players kung papaano nila I-aapply ang game plan. Hindi pwede 50%, o 60%, dapat 100% mo I-aapply.”
“At saka dapat mas aggressive sila sa defense,” added Santos.
When asked if he saw any similarities between the 2003-2005 three-peat squad (the 2004 DLSU championship was vacated by the Green Archers because of an eligibility issue and awarded to FEU), Arwind only said “meron, pero di gaano. All-Filipino kasi kami pero sila (the Season 77 squad) may import (Anthony Hargrove.)”
Santos and his other co-champions from a decade ago, like Denok Miranda, Mark Isip, Jeff Chan were on hand to cheer the current Tamaraw squad on in Araneta. It's likely they will be there in the Mall of Asia Arena in a week's time.
For sure the gold-and-green nation hopes that come next Wednesday's pivotal game three, some of that championship vibe of Santos and his buddies will rub off on Belo, Tolomia, and the rest of today's FEU squad.
Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.
