Oh Snap... a "good loss" (Ateneo - UP, round 1)

July 26, 2009

Everyone who has been with me and my fellow Ateneo die-hard know just how involved we get when watching team Ateneo play. We seriously cheer non-stop. We go crazy for every great play and we curse at bad calls and people who just watch, and NOT cheer. So yeah... I for one, don't take losses real well, especially when the team I am cheering for seems to be physically on the court but not actually playing -PLAYing. After winning the UAAP championship, having a roster oozing and overflowing with talent, and recruiting vital cogs in another seemingly amazing run at the title, team Ateneo just hit a great wall with an embarrassing loss. (Oh, let's not forget that they've also won their first three games of the season against 3 teams which has the most promise in reaching this year's Final 4) The only challenge that supposedly lies ahead is meeting La Salle whom, though not performing as well as forecast, have always come out in heat when against Ateneo. So basically, before the loss, Ateneo looked like they were on their way to a return trip to the finals, with icecream on top.

But, like I said, a few hours ago, Ateneo battled a cell-dweller. And lost.

The Cell-Dweller
By definition, a cell-dweller is a team that is not doing quite well in the 8-team league (i.e. bottom 2 or 3 in the win-loss standings). University of the Philippines has been doing bad for some time now. After UP's last UAAP championship during the Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc era (way back), they've failed to reach the promised land for the succeeding years. From the Ogie Gumatay, Paolo Mendoza and Brian Gahol triumvirate, the Mike Bravo - Totti Almeda and JR Reyes (removed) -Jon Tabique (died of cancer?) Red cubs recruitment stage, UP has gone through lack-luster performances year in and year out. In the past 3 seasons, as Ateneo has continued to strengthen its squad with crucial recruits and timely out-of-the-country training sessions, UP has dwindled and has ended up with a 0-14 win-loss card showing in 2007 and 1-14(?) win-loss record last year.

UP was, and currently is, a cell-dweller, the bottom of the food chain, so to speak. They have not won a single match this year, even against the teams who've also been on slumps.

Today Ateneo lost to UP. By 10. No typo here. And the saddest part here is that Ateneo lost without a sign of fight while UP proved to be fighting maroons. Ateneo had an insanely lackluster performance. Overconfidence perhaps? Could it be another case of the David and Goliath story? Could it be that the team saw this game as no bearing? Whatever the reason for the soul-less battle today, I don't fucking care. Do any of you remember this--- http://dinopipino.multiply.com/journal/item/23/Sayang.

Team Ateneo should give their all in each of the games. Killer instinct should be their primary focus. UP may not have such a great history of good games, but this does not mean they should be overlooked in any way. Luck can be present in the game, but the heart to actually battle it out and let it all hang out is another thing. UP had 80% fight and 20% luck, while Ateneo had 10% luck, 60% complacency, 20% confusion, 10% fight ---which includes 7% of wanting to win, and 3% of actually acting on it. It was a recipe for disaster if you ask me. (Oh, and they scored a weak 6 points in the whole of the 3rd Qtr, along with an array of stupid turnovers)

Turnover --- Zero to Hero
What was most disappointing was that the 90's Ateneo teams showed more passion than the "championship" team that showed up earlier. It was a team effort; a team effort of not wanting it that bad. Before Ateneo became such a powerhouse team, they began with having home-grown talents and dreams of making it big. And the teams... yes, you guessed it, were cell-dwellers. The 90's Ateneo teams were the first Ateneo teams I watched, and instantly got me hooked. They didn't have stars. They had a very young Rainier and Brian Sison, a rugged hustle-player in Gabi Cui, an injury prone yet promising/prized rookie in Ryan Pamintuan, an immature tshirt-under-jersey-wearing rookie in Wesley Gonzales, the High School star in Enrico Villanueva, and at the point, the veteran yet unknown L.A. Mumar. They were all young nobodies then, they had yet to prove anything, but showed a lot of promise. Why?; because they played hard. Their opponents knew that they were a young team and made sure that their rookies would get the rude welcoming. But, they just played each game with so much intensity. They took the yell of "get that ball"by heart, and personified "one big fight".

Who would have thought Villanueva and company would win it all four years after? Who would have thought that even with a major setback in BJ Manalo moving to La Salle would open new doors for other players to step-up. They did it, because the stronger bully-teams then overlooked the lowly cell-dwellers. This drove Ateneo to strive. (Yes, a major program change and recruitment prowess IS a sign of wanting it bad) After being underdogs for a long time, Ateneo became giant killers as well and worked their way up to where they are now. The heart that team Ateneo showed in games made them such a great team to admire. The Hail Mary squad as the team is fondly called was coined primarily because of their non-stop fight in the closest and even close-to-impossible game scenarios. But the game earlier was just incredibly played without the "We Believe" motto.

Is it because we believed too much already?

I will not point fingers on who played bad against UP, because it's always a team effort (And that includes the crowd even). We see players as gods nowadays and see wins as obvious outcomes. This is probably the same mindset that the players have with the recent championship and endless win streaks. It is no longer about carving out wins and destiny, but mere maintenance if inevitable greatness and carreer that come from the fame and prestiege of being part of a champion team. They probably are thinking that they've got nothing more to prove; and we fans/ supporters have made them this way.

The Alpha Dog
The loss today is such a wake-up call for team Ateneo to step up their game. This is not the time for the team to think of themselves as unbeatable and as the ALPHA DOG in the league. As proven by the old, and lesser powerful Ateneo teams, any team can grow into greatness. UP, or any of the other teams at that, should never be overlooked because, as it is an awakening for us, it may also be an awakening for them too to discover possibilities of greater "greatness" than just killing the giant. Let us (Ateneo community, because it is after all a team effort) not settle for winning only games that matter, but fighting for each additional digit in the win-column and proving that we are in our place because we took the chisel and are carving our destiny.

Let us not wait for cell-dwellers to be awoken by the miscues of the "Alpha Dog" and adhere to the reality that the ball is round and games are won by the amount of effort a team puts from practice, to jump-ball, and all throughout the 40-minute scramble for endgame supremacy.

The Good Loss
Boom Gonzales mentioned in the closing seconds of the game that -- "It is better for Ateneo to lose now than later in the tournament" --I feel that it is both correct and wrong to express such a mindset. Yes, this might be the same wake-up call for Ateneo like the singular FEU loss last year, but to say that there is such a thing as a "good loss" in a tournament that is all about pride, and bringing home the "bacon", is being a bit too positive about the situation. I say murder the next opponent and bully them into believing that Ateneo is in it to win it. Prepare for each game like Jordan played in Space Jam; Like its for all the marbles; like how you'd swear on your momma's grave.

And maybe, just maybe, the rookies of today would realize that its more that just a stage. Setting the tone for greater years to come starts from the way the team plays now. Benjie might not have been able to do it for the succeeding UP teams, but we'll never know if the current squad will be the wake-up call for UP's greater future.

Ateneo has the tools to win it all again this year, but the question now is do they have the same heart and fight the cell-dwellers have or is it all about being the Alpha Dog for them already?

I guess we'll just have to see how they pick up from this disgraceful performance some call a "good loss".