Your best enemy is yourself.

April 18, 2007 22:25

While having lunch this afternoon with Rej, we talked about the upcoming UAAP season. And then we got around to talking about the finals of the season 69 men’s basketball. I was for Ateneo, and she was for UST—underdogs, she says.

And then she said something about the Ateneo Blue Eagles not able to beat themselves. Hindi nila natalo ang sarili nila, kasi kalaban nila talaga nun ang mga sarili nila.

And up to now, honestly and obviously, I am bothered by it. Did the Blue Eagles lose to themselves?

Rewind.

Everyone actually thought Ateneo would go unbeaten after the elimination round. I couldn’t really remember who was the first one to beat them—I think it was UE—and boy I am so sure that it was UST who gave them the second loss. I distinctly remember that because I always loved Chris Tiu and he was the one who worked that game out, only to falter in the end. (Or did I get it reversed?)

I was rooting for Ateneo—but not during UP-Ateneo games, because I am effing sure I’d be on the UP side that time around—during the Finals, and was even on the verge of giving in to nervousness and uneasiness when I found out they were going to meet with the Adamson Falcons during the semis. Adamson was a tough assignment for them—they won by a margin below three points in their past two games in the elims. And then the semis.

Grr.

I couldn’t remember who saved the day for them—it was JC, I think—but there they were, in the place everyone expected them to be: the Finals.

They won Game One by being lucky. I guess around that time they already got complacent because they were going up against the fourth-seed team who just dumped the second-seed UE back in the semis. Although admittedly I cursed Allan Evangelista (I wish I got his name right this time) when he raised his arms as if saying “glorify me because I (think I) just scored the winning basket,” and that was just so mayabang, and that there was really a lapse defensively in UST’s side, Ateneo could have lost that game.

When UST won Game Two, I started doubting it.

Yes. I doubted the team I am so amused with and smitten with.

Heading into Game Three (and absenting myself from my last class around that time to watch the game), I somehow had the feeling that… they would lose. I have a weird, weird way of feeling it if my team would win or lose, but sometimes it’s overridden by my emotions that it’s not trustworthy. When I saw JC Intal missing the crucial shots, and I hated Macky for not taking the shots since he was the one who was hot in that game, I knew it was over.

(Loved Japs Cuan though. Ever saw a pointguard who misses a lot of free throws and mid-range shots? Forgivable naman siya. He’s cute. And a good pointguard at that.)

I cried over the PDI article done about Macky and JC. Macky said he told Coach Norman Black that he would give the ball to JC because they wouldn’t reach the Finals if it weren’t for him. Aptly so, but… practicality-wise, I think you should just let the game be because you need to win it. It’s the championship we’re taking about, not a… not a… elimination game.

I cried so hard when Ateneo lost that game. I couldn’t forgive UST, for I think they took something that Ateneo aptly deserve.

But maybe I was wrong.

Your best enemy is yourself.

I still couldn’t grasp the main idea, but I think they were just really… complacent and thought they could do UST in two games. But they didn’t.

They didn’t, and they lost.

I hope they could redeem themselves this time—but losing almost everyone on their starting lineup? (JC, Macky and Doug—hey, they’re four, right? Forgot the other one. Chris Tiu’s staying, so there’s at least one starter left.)

And then La Salle’s coming back.

Grr.

Am doing another entry on that—season 70 updates, I mean.

If anyone from the Ateneo lineup reads this, enlighten me please. Did you really just give in to yourselves?