The San Sebastian Stags Shocks San Beda Red Lions to Win The 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Division Crown

Back on Number 1. Indeed, the winning tradition of the Stags is back on track. After 6 years of not fighting for the crown, here are the Stags, with a bunch of stepping-up rookie players and a rookie coach in Ato Agustin, renews their assertion in Men's Basketball of the NCAA.

Nobody saw this Finals matchup coming, not even I. This writer thought that it will be a JRU-SBC Finals again, as things looked pretty bleak for the Stags as they lost 3 games in a row in a span of just one week. It seems that they started faltering when the games mattered the most during that time, however, looking back, it was a blessing in disguise for the Stags, as they experienced those setbacks where in they would be able to assert themselves and fight back to their winning ways, and this time, they pulled off 3 straight games in one week to win the NCAA Final Four and the Crown.

Game 1 was a closely fought contest, especially in the 4th quarter. where the Stags started faltering again as the Red Lions chimp-in that 8 pt lead and held the Stags to only 13 points in the 2nd half to force overtime. They were not executing their plays and turning the ball over a lot of times.

It seems that the Stags are into doom again. With Bambam Gamalinda of the Red Lions hitting back to back three's as the Red Lions took the roll at the start of overtime. However, the Stags held their composure and fought back, to force a second overtime. This time around, they maintained their composure and with Rookie Sensation Calvin Abueva hitting clutch free throws and getting 23 crucial rebounds for a 72-68 victory and a 1-0 series lead.

Heading into game 2, Coach Frankie Lim took some adjustments and was able to establish a lead into the 1st half and holding the Stags to only 28 points in the first half as the Red Lions scored 38 for a 10 point lead, along with a mammoth Red Lion crowd behind them expecting for a game 3. More importantly for the Lions, they held Jimbo Aquino to a single point and made Abueva to commit 3 fouls and limit his production. However, Gilbert Bulawan kept the Stags alive, as he made timely contributions with the two main man of the Stags not getting into the groove of the game.

But, the Stags will have none of it, as they started to run and forced turnovers, as they scored 26 points in the 3rd quarter and trimmed the lead to two, 56-54. Jimbo Aquino started to explode, hitting big shots and three pointers, as Abueva was benched the whole quarter due to foul trouble and with Coach Ato Agustin wanting to save Abueva for last.

Come the final canto, the Stags held the Red Lions without a field goal pretty much the whole quarter, and the Stags slowly started to build up the lead, with Jimbo Aquino hitting a timely three-pointer to give the Stags an 8-point lead with 5 minutes left into the ballgame. Things started to falter for the Red Lions this time, as they got into unforced turnovers, and with time on the Stags' side, the Lions pretty much sealed the deal on themselves, as the Lions kept fouling the Stags trying to keep their hopes alive, but they could not convert any field goal at all and this blew the final score to 76-61.

This stopped the 3-year dominance of this year's hosts, the San Beda Red Lions as the San Sebastian Stags finally captured the Men's Basketball Crown again since 2002, which ironically, the San Beda was also the host of that season. The graduating scorer of the Stags, Jimbo Aquino was named Finals MVP of the series, with coach Ato Agustin and his young boys taking their first crown. The Stags will be looking to defend their crown in 2010, in which they will be that season's host and try to break the curse of the host winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Crown.

The NCAA Finals Matchup

It all boils down to the number 1 and number 2 team after all, and so my Final Four prediction is only half-correct, as the San Sebastian Stags upsets the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers in a blowout in the second game, as the San Beda Red Lions gets a 6-day break preparing for the Finals.

San Beda College Red Lions vs San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags

The Red Lions stayed pretty much in the number 2 slot the rest of the elimination round. However, after their loss against the JRU Heavy Bombers that put the Lions down at the number 3 slot, the Red Lions went on to win its last remaining games and forced a playoff against the number 1 team for most of the eliminations, the San Sebastian Stags, and won that game to seal the number 1 seeding.

Riding on a winning streak and with plenty of rest heading into the Finals, the Red Lions looks as prepared as ever on capturing their fourth straight NCAA crown for the decade, although things look rough in their Final Four encounter against the Letran Knights, San Beda has the edge when it comes to Finals experience as well.

On the other hand, the season started strong for the San Sebastian Stags, winning their first 15 games to set an NCAA record for the best start in the eliminations, before being booted out of first place in a playoff encounter against the Red Lions.

Leading scorer Jimbo Aquino losing his cool in the playoff game, things look pretty bleaked on the Stags as they faced-off last year's finalist, the JRU Heavy Bombers. The Stags fought hard and fended off JRU's challenge as they move into the Finals for the first time since 2003.

Lately, the Red Lions got into the Stags' number, beating them in back-to-back games at the end of the season, and more importantly, holding and frustrating the Stags' leading scorer, Jimbo Aquino. Coach Frankie Lim would like to continue that trend with Jake Pascual limiting Aquino's touch and space to frustrate him and with John Hermida and Garvo Lanete pestering opposing guards Pamboy Raymundo and Raymond Maconocido.

Also, the Red Lions would like to slow the tempo down and force turnovers to get easy points. With their experience in the Finals, the Lions could afford to make the series into a half-court game, as this limits the Stags' running game and the Lions would not want to fall into the fast-paced game of their opponent. The Lions also needs to get back on defense quickly to prevent the Stags' hi-octane offense.

For the Stags', their losses against the Red Lions would have not come at a better time, as the Stags would learn a lot from those two games that they lost. In fact, those losses could be a blessing in disguise for the Stags, as these losses gave them an idea and will surely make their work cut-out for them to prepare for the adjustments they needed against the Lions.

The guards of the Stags are the important factor in this series, with Pamboy Raymundo and Raymond Maconocido must break the opposing press and make the right decisions on setting their team's play. Also, Jimbo Aquino must not force things and let the game come to him. The Stags would not want to be too predictable in their offense by letting Aquino do all the work, as the Stags have enough fire power on their team to create a balanced attack.

Also, it is very important for the Stags' frontline to get defensive rebounds and force turnovers to fuel their fast-paced game. The Stags needs to create opportunities for their fast-break game and convert on these easy-points as much as they can, as this will be crucial for them as surely, the Lions will try to force them into a slower-paced and more physical ball game. The Stags must keep their composure and do things that led them to win 15 straight games.

Prediction: Seeing the way the Stags manhandled the Heavy Bombers, the Stags might eek this one in three games. They have the talent, especially with their rookies, but will the Stags maintain their composure come crunchtime? I think they will.

The NCAA Final Four Matchup

My UAAP Finals prediction was close, but no cigar. However this is what makes blogging about basketball fun, and this time around, it'll be for the NCAA Final Four.

It has been finally settled. After all the delays and the playoff game, the defending champions San Beda Red Lions takes the Number one seed as they face of the Rey Guevarra-less Letran Knights as the San Sebastian Stags fights with the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers.

San Beda College Red Lions vs Colegio de San Juan Letran Knights

The Red Lions are at an all-time high this season, taking the number 1 slot with consecutive victories after their loss to the Heavy Bombers by winning their last remaining games and forcing a playoff game against the Stags, who led the much of the season.

Meanwhile, things look pretty bleak for the Knights, as one of their leading scorers and Smart Gilas Stalwart Rey Guevarra will not play due to a knee injury sustained from their game last time out against the Red Lions.

Coach Frankie Lim would have to make sure his players do not get overconfident and need to maintain their composure against the very physical Letran Knights. The Red Lions must maintain their game of penetration and scoring on easy buckets and open jump shots. The guards of the Red Lions will have to perform as usual with John Hermida and Garvo Lanete leading the Lions' offense, and Sudan Daniel has to focus and do the dirty work inside. Dave Marcelo and Pascual must help Daniel inside and be assertive.

Meanwhile on defense, the Lions must limit RJ Jazul's production, as surely he will be the focal point of the Knights' offense and they must make sure they shut down the Knights' frontline and make it tough for them to score, as their scorings options is now down to a few players.

Coach Louie Alas has pretty much his work cut-out for his team, now that the Knights will not have Rey Guevarra in their matchup against the Lions, the focal point of the offense will surely be with RJ Jazul, and every little help he could get from his teammates will be much appreciated. Kirk Del Rosario must step it up a notch and so does John Foronda and Kris Alas must avoid foul trouble if possible as the Knights' frontline is not as deep compared to the Lions.

On defense, the Knights could take advantage of Daniel's moody character, and with the physical play of the Knights, this is pretty much possible. If they are able to make Daniel get the focus out of the game, then the Knights' frontline could take that advantage to score inside. They must also limit the production the Lions will make from their guards and shut down the passing lanes from their penetration.

Prediction: SBC will take this one, unless a miracle happens and someone from the Knights step-up.

San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags vs Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers

The second matchup is interesting, with the Stags ending on a losing skid from the eliminations and the playoff game heading into the matchup with the Heavy Bombers going easy and preparing for the Final Four.

Unlike their neighbors in Mendiola, the Stags are at an all-time low this season, getting back-to-back defeats for the first time this season against the Red Lions, and aside from that, Jimbo Aquino will most likely be suspended for what he did against San Beda's Jake Pascual.

On the other hand, things look good for the Heavy Bombers, having a long break preparing for the Final Four and even though they have to beat the Stags twice to advance to the Finals, their opponents are pretty much tired from two exhausting and close games against the Red Lions.

This will be coach Ato Agustin's first ever Final Four appearance, and also for the Stags in a while. However, their leading scorer Jimbo Aquino will not be with them for the first game of the Final Four therefore, Calvin Abueva, and Ronald Pascual must step-up and taking the scoring slack for the Stags. The guards Anthony Del Rio and Pamboy Raymundo must trigger their high octane offense that has been missing against the Red Lions and setup Ian Sangalang and Gilbert Bulawan on the inside for those easy buckets.

On defense, they must limit the outside shooting of MVP candidate John Wilson and Marc Cagoco while keeping the pressure inside. Abueva also must make his presence felt inside, along with Sangalang and Bulawan to matchup against the frontline of James Sena, John Njei and Marvin Hayes and make sure that they keep the game close.

Meanwhile experience is on the Heavy Bombers' side, being a finalist a year ago and most of the core of that lineup intact, the Heavy Bombers will rely again on John Wilson's all around game while Marc Cagoco must make sound decisions on the court. James Sena must step-up in this game and assert himself inside. Marvin Hayes and John Njei will do the dirty work and grab those second chance points for the Bombers. The Bombers must limit their turnovers too to prevent those fastbreak points for the Stags.

On defense, Njei and Hayes must prevent those easy baskets for the Stags' frontline and grab those defensive rebounds. The guards of the Bombers must pressure the Stags' backcourt and make them earn their points or forces some turnovers and take advantage of the fatigue factor from the get go.

Prediction: JRU will take this one, with the inexperience and fatigue factor for the Stags and the experience JRU has, this will be a learning experience for them and also, for their coach Ato Agustin.

Basketball Happenings in the Last 7 Days

- San Beda forges a playoff for the number 1 seed against San Sebastian, 71-67. The two teams will play again on Wednesday to settle the Final Four positioning.

- PBA started its 35th season with Japeth Aguilar playing for Burger King, however, his Burger King debut was not the way he would like it to be, losing to Purefoods 93-80.

- Ateneo won the UAAP Championship for the second straight year for the seniors and the Eaglets also won the Juniors crown.

- Also, another basketball league is born, the Asean Basketball League, where different countries from South East Asia battles for basketball supremacy in the region, and the game started off between two rivals, the Philippine Patriots and the Indonesia Satra Muda BriTama with the Philippines getting the first ever win of the league, 76-69.

- Speaking of Asean Basketball League, this is a great league for Filipinos, as it gives more opportunities for Filipino Basketball players to showcase their skills as some of them are playing as imports for other countries like Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore, where Rensy Bajar, Don Camaso and Al Vergara plays as an import.

- Also, Congratulations to Firequinito.com for winning the Best Sports Blog at the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards. Keep up the good work and best wishes for defending the crown on 2010.

Smart Gilas National Team Pawns Powerade Team Pilipinas

The Future looks bright.

This is after seeing the Smart Gilas destroying the Powerade Team Pilipinas 98-69.

The Smart Gilas led by CJ Giles showed their offensive prowess against the Powerade squad, attacking from inside and outside and showed no signs of slowing down.

Seeing the game, CJ Giles dominated the game with 22 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks, showing how he will help the National Teams' cause in the next FIBA Qualifiers by showing the hustle plays and the defensive prowess he could give that the other RP teams lack.

Also, the Gilas guards showed tremendous playmaking that the Powerade was criticized for, by having more than twice the Powerade's assists as a whole.

And more importantly, the Gilas made three point shots, even with the bigs like Japeth Aguilar, and Aldrech Ramos which will be crucial as this opens up the defense of the opponents.

Seeing this game, it just shows how things look good for Gilas and more importantly, this builds the confidence of the Players as they head on to the PBA All Filipino Cup on a high note.