Hard to believe that four years ago, the University of the East returned to the UAAP Finals and became the only team to beat the reigning 5-Peat champion Ateneo De Manila in a finals game. That 2009 Game 2 Finals encounter was the biggest, and thus far only, defeat in the otherwise astounding record of the Ateneo in its five-year title run. After that though, the Warriors once again became a sad sack team. Paul Lee was the only legitimate superstar left in 2010, from a roster that once included Pari Llagas, Elmer Espiritu and Marcy Arellano. When Lee left UE was trying to avoid the bottom of the standings with what was essentially an already ragtag collection of players and bad recruitment choices. All except for one guy. Roi Sumang, the wondrous pointguard who resurrected his big time basketball dreams in 2010, finally played UAAP ball in 2011. As good as Sumang was, it was not a good time to be in a UE uniform. 2011 was when the Blue Eagles, already riding on a three-year championship run, were all but guaranteed a fourth straight title with the arrival of 7-foot- Greg Slaughter. Slaughter would go on to play two full seasons as the Ateneo completed its 5-Peat. 2011 also saw the arrival of Lasalle's heralded twin towers of 6'6" Norbert Torres and 6'8" Arnold Van Opstal. Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia were on a strong FEU squad. Adamson had its strongest roster in years with Alex Nuyles at the helm. UE on the other hand was fighting just to not wind up as the cellar dwellers for that season. Sumang, still bereft of any focused coaching and individual training, often found himself running on fumes as early as midway through the third period of games. He ended that year averaging just about five points per game. Skip ahead two years later and UE and Sumang seem to be totally different. Over the course of this past summer, the Red Warriors seemingly shook all of the loser tags clear off themselves. They beat Lasalle, Adamson and Santo Tomas en route to outlasting National University 81-68 in the Fil Oil summer tournament. Those were teams they could barely touch the last two summers, much less in the UAAP. They've completely turned the tables on them this time around. "It was all about getting them used to winning, because they got used to losing before," explained Coach Boysie Zamar. Zamar, a member of the last UE squad that won a UAAP championship nearly three decades ago, came in as a replacement for his teammate on that title team, former PBA superstar Jerry Codinera, midway through last season. Zamar is loath to admit it, emphasizing total team play as much as he does, but a great part of the transformation of his Warriors can be attributed primarily to Sumang. Sumang was adjudged MVP of the Fil Oil summer tournament after leading the Warriors with a near-triple double in their dethroning of NU with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. "We are never about one guy, or one player, we are all about team play, and we watch out for each other," Zamar said in one interview. But he could not avoid the topic of his star guard. "Roi is like our leader on the floor, because that is what a pointguard is supposed to be. And I'm glad he has risen to that challenge," Zamar explained. That was about as close to out and out praise for an individual player as any of the Warriors will ever get from their coach. Of course UE's climb back to respectability is not just all Sumang's doing. Without a doubt another - figurative and literal - reason for UE's recent success has been 6'7" 250-pound African import Charles Mamie. Mamie has given UE the strong inside presence it so desperately lacked the last three years. He scored only 10 points in their title conquest of the Bulldogs, but he hauled in 21 rebounds, preventing the taller Bulldogs from getting second chances at the basket, and basically fueling the UE transition attack. Mamie was also effective in helping neutralize 6'6" Emmanuel Mbe and 6'6" Alfred Aroga, NU's African imports. Both of the Cameroonian Bulldogs simply could not keep up with Mamie inside. Mamie basically scattered about and shoved the two Cameroonians aside. Both men combined for a mere 12 points and were in constant foul trouble trying to keep up with the powerful Mamie. This must have been especially painful for Aroga, who before the title game was named the tournament's best defensive player and member of the Mythical 5. UE's veterans have also returned to try and make a legit run in UAAP Season 76. Lord Casajeros, dumped during the Codinera administration, ended his summer with a bang, knocking in 16 points against NU and basically helping keep reigning UAAP MVP Ray Parks in check. He won't have that kind of game every afternoon, but he has become a heck of a perimeter defender, ...
With a “pendulum” series that is deadlocked at 2-2, the reigning National Basketball Association champion Miami Heat and the much-experienced San Antonio Spurs duke it out for a third and final time at the AT&T Center in Alamo City today, June 17 (Manila time, 8:00 a.m.) in Game Five of the 2013 NBA Finals. * San Antonio has won the odd-numbered games so far – 1 and 3 – while Miami has bounced back from each of those defeats with convincing 103-84 and 109-93 victories in the second and fourth games, respectively. * The Spurs whipped the Heat in Game Three, 113-77, in the first of three appearances on San Antonio’s home floor but the Heat roared mightily in Game Four behind their much-vaunted but erstwhile struggling Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. * In a must-win situation (only because no team in NBA Finals history has rallied from a 3-1 deficit to snatch the title), the trio rose to the occasion in combining for 85 of Miami’s 109 points in a 16-point triumph. * James, the league’s Most Valuable Player in four of the last five seasons, collected a King-sized 33 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. *Dwyane Wade, bucking a sore right knee, chalked up 32 markers (his first 30-point effort in this year’s playoffs), six reebies, six steals and four assists, and Chris Bosh came out of a glaring, prolonged slump with 20 points and 13 boards. * It was a series scoring high for James, Wade and Bosh. James was coming off three successive sub-par offensive efforts in the series, having tallied just 18, 17 and 15 markers previously. * For San Antonio, the Game Four loss was a wasted opportunity to put the more-talented Heat team on the brink of extinction following their stunning 36-point rout of Miami the third game for the third-largest winning margin in NBA Finals history. * All-Star playmaker Tony Parker, the Finals MVP in the Spurs’ most recent NBA championship in 2007, scored 15 points (none in the second half, though, after a 49-all standoff at halftime) and dished off 11 assists despite a sore right hamstring.* Their meal ticket Tim Duncan had 20 points and five boards but the third member of San Antonio’s aging triumvirate, Manu Ginobili, only had five points (1-of-5 field shooting) off the pines. * Traditionally, more than 75 percent of the Game Five winner in an NBA Finals that was tied at 2-all after four games had gone on to win the NBA crown under the old 2-2-1-1-1 (home-road) format. * Since 1985, the league has gone to a 2-3-2 format in the Finals.* During the stretch, only the 1988 Los Angeles Lakers (vs. Detroit), 1994 Houston Rockets (vs. New York) and 2010 Lakers (vs. Boston) *have grabbed the NBA crown after trailing 3-2 in an Finals that was deadlocked after four games by annexing Games Six and Seven at home. * No matter what, the odds favor the Game Five winner in romping away with the NBA crown, too. * *********************************************** ********** ********** * * It takes 16 victories to romp away with the Larry O’Brien trophy that goes to the winner of an NBA Finals. * For the 2008 Boston Celtics, it did not matter how many games they needed to play so long as it led to an NBA championship. * And indeed, the Celtics had a league-record 26 playoff appearances that year before taking down their arch nemesis, the Los Angeles Lakers, via a 4-2 count in that year’s Finals. * Boston was pushed to the maximum seven games by both Atlanta and Cleveland in the first two rounds, dropping all three road contests each time against the Hawks and Cavaliers, before posting a 4-2 decision (including 2-1 on the road) to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern finals. * That being said, coach Glenn (Doc) Rivers’ troops won 16 postseason games overall but also lost 10 – the most by any champion in NBA history – for one of the lowest playoff winning percentages by an NBA titlist in league history at .615. * During the early sixties, only six of the eight or nine clubs overall qualified for the playoffs and the postseason consisted of three rounds with the division winners from the East and West drawing first-round byes. * In 1962, with nine member team in the league, the Boston snared the NBA crown with a paltry 8-6 record, beating the Philadadelphia (now Golden State) Warriors in the Eastern finals and the LA Lakers in the NBA Finals via the maximum seven games each time for a .571 winning clip.* It was the lowest playoff winning percentage by an NBA champion ever. * In 1960 and 1963, the Celts also captured the NBA titles with 8-5 records (.615). * Six of the eight member clubs earned a playoff ticket during the 1959-60 season and Boston knocked off the St. Louis (now Atlanta) Hawks, 4-3, during the NBA ...
People tend to forget that the San Antonio Spurs are one of only five current franchises that have active NBA championship experience. That means they still have a number of the significant players that allowed them to capture the NBA world championship. Center-forward Tim Duncan, off-guard Manu Ginobili and point guard Tony Parker are all still around from the the Black and Silver's last title squad from 2007. The now-31-year old Parker was a 25-year old water bug back then, and he was the youngest of the San Antonio Big 3. Perhaps only their longtime Western Conference nemesis the Los Angeles Lakers can claim to have as many key stars with that much championship experience. Parker and Company are now up 2 - 1 against the Miami Heat in this year's NBA Finals. In Game 3 they handed the Heat their collective South Beach asses 113 - 77. But unlike previous Spurs championship games, this time it was the unsung, unheralded role players that led the way. Guard Danny Green led all scorers with 27 points. Another guard, Gary Neal, added 24 markers. Forward Kawhi Leonard, the revelation of the season, had 14 points and 12 rebounds and continues to be the straightjacket of LeBron James. Truth be told it really didn't look like it would be a blowout in the first half, with both teams playing in spurts. San Antonio would go a run, build a lead, then Miami would chase it down, get the lead back, then lose it again on a Spurs run, and on and on it went throughout the first 24 minutes. It should have been an omen though, that the Spurs ended the first half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Neal to give his side a six-point lead. He eventually wound up with a half dozen of San Antonio's NBA Finals record 16 three-pointers. That accounted for 48 points right there. Back to back three-pointers from the Spurs late in the fourth and final quarter made it a 30-point bulge for the first time at 103-71. Before that, the Spurs totally owned the third quarter, with 6-foot-10 utility forward Matt Bonner, another role player, getting Neal going by playing a kick out and shoot game. Using Bonner's picks Neal nailed back-to-back treys to give the Spurs the 84-63 lead late in the third. “Huge win for us. It was just an all-around great team effort,” Duncan stated after the game. “We get our butts handed to us last game, and they played really well, and we came back here and change it up and just put together a great game all around,” he added. A lot of people tend to forget Duncan already has four championship rings himself, and is arguably still at least a Top 5 big man in the league. San Antonio head coach Greg Popovich had nothing but praise for his starting center, the man he's ridden to the NBA title four times prior. “Just because (Duncan’s) a little older doesn’t mean he’s lost his competitiveness or his professional will to compete,” Popovich said during media availability. “That’s not going to stop, and we all saw it out there today,” Popovich added. Teams that held a 2-1 edge in the NBA Finals have gone on all the way to win the title 11 out of 12 times. Guess who the only team was that failed to take a 2-1 lead all the way to the championship? Here's a hint: they had their asses handed to them in this Game 3. As much fight as them thar Spurs have shown, it looks like the Heat have been anything but, and might in fact have flashes of the Dallas Mavericks and their 2011 NBA Finals debacle fleeting before their eyes. Dirk Nowitzki and Dallas won their one and only NBA title against these self-same Big 3 Heat two years ago. And those Mavericks literally relied on Nowitzki's shooting and scoring to carry them, unlike the Spurs who collectively and relentlessly jab, prod, then grab and hold and tap opposing teams into submission. With Leonard all over him, James must be feeling a lot like it really is 2011 all over again. Leonard's unique combination of height, length, speed and strength were scientifically verified by sports scientists and biomechanical specialists as perfect for defending the 6-foot-9 260-pound league MVP. And while Leonard is the man specifically tasked with guarding James, once again it has been the total effort of Popovich and his coaching staff that has the Spurs defending as a team. James might eventually overpower or otherwise overcome Leonard. It would however be far more difficult for him to do the same against all five Spurs on the floor. While Leonard was his shadow, the other four guys on the floor were funneling James into trap zones along the sideline to take away his driving game. They helped and rotated and switched and recovered the minute he jab-stepped to indicate an attack to the rim, and dared him to beat them with his jumpshot. James wound up with a measly 15 points and made only about a third of his attempts. He and fellow All Star Dwayne Wade combined to score as much as the role ...
Only four times in National Basketball Association Finals history has a home team swept the three middle games (third, fourth and fifth) under the 2-3-2 format that is being utilized by the league for the 32nd time in its 67-year existence. * The old but revitalized San Antonio Spurs look to join the distinguished list after taking the first step yesterday with a 113-77 shellacking of the shell-shocked defending NBA titlist Miami Heat in Game Three of the 2013 NBA Finals at the AT&T Center for a 2-1 series advantage. * The 36-point winning margin was the third-largest in NBA Finals history. Chicago beat Utah by 42 points, 96-54, in Game Three of the 1998 Finals for the league record. Boston routed the LA Lakers by 39 points, 131-92, in the series-clinching Game Six of the 2008 Finals. * Ironically, it was the Spurs’ young guns that mesmerized the Heat as Cleveland castoff Danny Green, a 6-6 guard who was a 2009-10 teammate of Heat star LeBron James when the latter was still with the Cavaliers, shot 7-for-9 from the three-point area and totaled 27 points and unheralded Gary Neal, an undrafted 6-4 guard who labored in the Turkish, Spanish and Italian leagues before joining the Spurs as a free agent in July 2010, came off the bench to contribute 24 points on 6-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. * Overall, San Antonio, which was ahead by as much 37 points in the lopsided contest after enjoying a slim 50-44 advantage at the half following back-to-back triples by Tony Parker and Neal to break the game’s final deadlock at 44-all, made an all-time NBA Finals record of 16 three-pointers out of 32 attempts.* * The Spurs’ 37-year-old statesman Tim Duncan came back from a lackluster Game Two performance during which Miami evened the series count at 1-1 with a 103-84 home rout to post a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, offsetting a pedestrian effort by both Tony Parker (hobbling with just six*points and eight assists) and Manu Ginobili (seven points). * Yung forward Kawhi Leonard also registered a double-double for the second time in the series with 14 points and a dozen boards and bullied a listless James to another poor offensive night as “The King” was held to a frigid 7-for-21 field shooting.* James wound up with a series-low 15 points along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Dwyane Wade topscored for the icy Heat with 16 points and Mike Miller also came off the pines to knock in 15 points on a perfect 5-for-5 three-point clip. * San Antonio, which is bidding the fifth NBA title in franchise history in another “odd” year after championship finishes in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, will host Game Four on Friday, June 14 (Manila time, 9:00 a.m.).* While the Spurs look to snare a commanding 3-1 lead, the Heat are back in a must-win situation as no team in NBA Finals history has ever overcome a 3-1 deficit to romp away with the Larry O’Brien championship trophy. * Game Five, to be played on Monday, June 17 (Manila time, 8:00 a.m.), will again be held in Alamo City. * The Spurs grabbed the homecourt advantage from the Heat after a stunning 92-88 win at Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena in the NBA championship-series opener. * *********************************** ***** ************* *************** * * Did you know that the legendary Michael Jordan still holds the all-time NBA record for the highest scoring average in a single NBA Finals series until now? * Jordan registered the mark when he normed 41 points for the Chicago Bulls in their 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Suns during the 1993 best-of-seven titular duel. * It was the year that “His Airness” was beaten by Charles Barkley for the regular-season Most Valuable Player award.* Barkley was the Suns’ meal ticket at the time.* The humbling experience served as Jordan’s motivation. * In addition to Jordan, who is now the newly-married owner of the Charlotte Bobcats franchise, two other players averaged at least 40 points during the NBA Finals. * Rick Barry, a prolific scorer for the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors whose trademark was his unorthodox underhanded free throw shot, drilled in 40.8 ppg in the 1967 Finals but his efforts went for naught as Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers crushed the Warriors in six games. * Los Angeles Lakers forward Elgin Baylor’s 40.6-point clip in the seven-game 1962 NBA Finals was likewise put to waste when Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics came through with a 4-3 win. * During the epic series, Baylor also registered the highest individual score for an NBA championship-series contest when he chalked up 61 points during the Lakers’ 126-121 Game 5 triumph at the Boston Garden on April 14, 1962 that temporarily gave LA a 3-2 lead. * ********** ************************************ ...
Did you know that the legendary Michael Jordan still holds the all-time NBA record for the highest scoring average in a single NBA Finals series until now? * Jordan registered the mark when he normed 41 points for the Chicago Bulls in their 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Suns during the 1993 best-of-seven titular duel. * It was the year that “His Airness” was beaten by Charles Barkley for the regular-season Most Valuable Player award.* Barkley was the Suns’ meal ticket at the time.* The humbling experience served as Jordan’s motivation. * In addition to Jordan, who is now the newly-married owner of the Charlotte Bobcats franchise, two other players averaged at least 40 points during the NBA Finals. * Rick Barry, a prolific scorer for the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors whose trademark was his unorthodox underhanded free throw shot, drilled in 40.8 ppg in the 1967 Finals but his efforts went for naught as Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers crushed the Warriors in six games. * Los Angeles Lakers forward Elgin Baylor’s 40.6-point clip in the seven-game 1962 NBA Finals was likewise put to waste when Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics came through with a 4-3 win. * During the epic series, Baylor also registered the highest individual score for an NBA championship-series contest when he chalked up 61 points during the Lakers’ 126-121 Game 5 triumph at the Boston Garden on April 14, 1962 that temporarily gave LA a 3-2 lead. * ********** ************************************ ******* ******** * * No team in NBA Finals history has ever come back from a deficit of 3-1 or 3-0 to capture a title series. * Only on one occasion has a team won three consecutive games after lagging behind three games to none. * During the 1951 NBA Finals, the championship-bound Rochester Royals (the forerunners of the Sacramento Kings) jumped to a 3-0 advantage against the New York Knicks.* However, the Royals were forced to a decisive seventh game in Rochester after surrendering the fourth, fifth and sixth games. * *********************************************** ******** ** ********* * In 1955, in the inaugural season of the 24-second shot clock rule, the Syracuse Nationals (the harbinger of the Philadelphia 76ers) defeated the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Pistons in a marathon seven-game series that saw the home team capture each game. * It marked the first and only time that such a thing happened in NBA Finals history. * Syracuse took the first two and last two games while Fort Wayne grabbed the three middle contests.
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