0-4. That’s the 2nd round record of the Green Archers after they fell to Ateneo, 62-79 last Sunday.

4-7. That’s the current record of the team.

7-7. The best-case record of the team after two rounds. That’s also the minimum that’s needed to even tie for the last spot in the playoffs.

3-0. Sweep the last 3 games against UP, FEU, and NU if they ever hope to get a tie UST, while hoping that UST obliges us by crashing and burning in their last 3 games. Both scenarios are a bit farfetched, our winning our last 3 games the more remote of the two.

So what happened against Ateneo?

Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Zero. We lost the game via rout, this being the biggest losing margin to-date this season. We lost all 4 quarters, although we were fairly competitive in the first half, falling behind by only 5 points after 10 minutes. Not very good, but not very bad either.

The team’s performance gave supporters some false hopes that the second half would see the team overcome the Blue Eagles’ perceived dominance.

C’mon guys, haven’t we learned anything after watching 10 games so far? We’ve always come to expect that the opposing coaches will use the halftime break to analyze what we’re doing, and come up with the necessary changes in their game plan, while our coaches will continue to push what they started with. Predictable. Unable to adjust. So the second half began, following exactly this scenario. The Blue Eagles pounced, we fell behind double digits, and never recovered.

The first half performance allowed the Blue Eagles to reach their comfort level because our lack of any surprises, and once they got into their preferred game groove, it would have taken an exceptional effort and extraordinarily great game for us to beat them. Both of which were beyond the capabilities of our players last Sunday. Read more…

When the Green Archers began the second round against the Adamson Falcons, their goal was to win their fifth game. Unfortunately, four games later, their goal is still to notch that elusive fifth win.

After the first twenty minutes of their second round encounter with bitter rival Ateneo Blue Eagles, the Archers found themselves down by only five points. The team was bannered by Oda Tampus, who already had nine points across his name.

During the turn, the Animo Squad gave a rousing halftime performance that somehow uplifted the outnumbered gallery of Green-clad supporters. And, best of all, Greg Slaughter, the Eagles’ seven-foot center, had only spent a total of four minutes on the floor after picking his second foul early in the second canto.

However, the next twenty minutes of the match would be a different story, as what was initially a nail-biter was turned into a rout, one turnover and botched three-pointer at a time.

Unlike their first meeting wherein they were able to whittle the lead of the Loyola-based dribblers down to a handful of points, the Archers were unable to mount any kind of comeback to surmount the lead of their rivals.

By the end of the match, the score was 62-79 in favor of the Eagles, which sent the Archers reeling from their fourth straight setback and further dimmed their flickering Final Four hopes. Read more…

As posted in Archerpride.com

After three consecutive losses, the Archers look to regain some pride on Sunday as they face defending champions and unbeaten Ateneo.

Coming from a tough losses against UE and UST, games which many felt we should have won, the Archers look a bit down coming into this weekend’s game against our fiercest rival. A loss could be fatal to our team’s chances of getting a playoff slot, so this game has the significance of being a must-win in more ways than one.

It will be an uphill battle for sure, with the Archers down one key big man in Yutien Andrada, leaving Arnold Van Opstal, Norbert Torres, Maui Villanueva, and Papot Paredes to face Ateneo’s imposing frontliners led by seven-footer Slaughter, effective Nico Salva, Justin Chua and Frank Golla.

It must be remembered that rookie Ravena had his breakout game in our first round encounter, going off for 24 points with 22 in the first half. His early outburst helped Ateneo take control of the game and set the Archers on their heels, forcing them to play catch up all game long.

So the deck is stacked against us. How will the Archers respond? Read more…