- The sluggish Archers fell to the Adamson Falcons, 55-61 in today’s first game. Not exactly the result our supporters expected after the team’s valiant and spirited effort against Ateneo last Sunday.
- The Archers seemed a half step slower at times, and Adamson seemed to have prepared for the Archers’ traditional offensive sets, crowding the Archers in their favorite spots and contesting all shots, particularly those in the paint.
- It was a puzzling game to many observers, perhaps because of the 1-6 record of Adamson at the end of the first round. It’s worthwhile remembering that Adamson lost several games by 3 points or less in the first round, including that 1point overtime loss to our team, and that they beat the Archers in a pre-season tournament. Adamson is better than their record suggests. Give credit to Adamson, they wanted it more and it showed as they were more active on the boards and in going after loose balls.
- The Archers started off hot from the 3point area, hitting all 9 points in the first quarter from treys. After that initial streak, the Archers’ arrows started missing the mark. In the first half, the Archers made 5 out of their 9 3point attempts, while making only 3/23 on 2point attempts. Far out thought – maybe they should have fired away from the long court more instead of bringing the ball closer to the hoop? Nah, bad idea. They just have to believe that they can sink those shots.
- Some previous faults of the first few games resurfaced – lazy passes that were picked off, playing great defense for at least 20 seconds, then allowing the opponents to score in the last couple of seconds, failing to box out on the rebounds, forcing contested shots, hesitating on open shots. Probably indications of a lack of concentration on the game. Maybe they were already thinking ahead to Sunday’s game.
- It was the veterans who engineered the closing kick that brought the lead down to what it was at the end of the game. Bader hit a couple of fts, James scored on a drive, and Peejay hit a contested triple. Interestingly, Peejay seems to connect late in the games. Now, if only he can carry over that last second mindset earlier in the games.
- With a 4-4 record, the Archers cannot afford to lose many more games. They have to win at least 4 out of the remaining 6 games to have a good shot at the final 4. This was a game the Archers were expected to win, so they’ll need to pick up at least 2 wins from the “stronger” teams like Ateneo, FEU, UE, and UST, while making sure that they successfully hurdle UP and NU. A 7-7 record is a risky proposition.
- The team has two days to shed the negative feelings from the loss. Someone said that it seemed like they all got off the wrong side of the bed. Whatever, this game is a wakeup call, that the team can’t sleepwalk through any of the games. Hope this loss fires up the players. It’s a good thing that the score on Sunday’s game will be 0-0 during the opening tipoff.