DLSU Wins The UAAP Basketball Championship!

Yes!!! We're champions once again!

First, props to our Finals opponent, the UE Warriors for a great season - marked by an historic 14-0 sweep in the eliminations, earning an outright ticket to the finals - and for an awesome finals performance.

And of course, CONGRATS and thanks to the DLSU Archers for claiming the championship by, in turn, sweeping the Warriors 2-0 in the UAAP Finals.

The following is a nice article from Basketball Exchange:*

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DLSU 73, UE 64. Why They Are Champions
by Gary Mercado

The most compelling image I have of the game is that of Pocholo Villanueva with his hands on his knees, tears streaming from his cheeks, the pure ecstasy of victory shaking him like a leaf as he celebrated with his teammates.

And celebrate they should, as DLSU in my honest opinion, gave one of the most amazing, one of the most spectacular basketball performances I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few.

I know I got it all wrong, predicting a UE win. But truth to tell, that’s the least of my worries. First, because I don’t think anyone could have possibly thought La Salle could pull it off, considering the level of ability of its opponent, the fact it was coming off a particularly draining set of games against ADMU, and finally that UE had weeks of idle time to prepare. That, along with the lack of ceiling (again), would be enough to make anyone with even a(n) iota of basketball opinion in them to vote against them.

Read full article here.

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See news articles about the championship here and here.

See photos here. And especially here from Vic Icasas.





*I initially stated that the article I referenced was written by a non-Lasallian. The author of the article himself has indicated to me that he is, in fact, from La Salle. I have since taken out my false and misinformed claim.

 

Forza La Salle

Here's a link to my Multiply entry expressing support for the DLSU Green Archers.

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Update: We won!!! Thank you both to the DLSU Green Archers and ADMU Blue Eagles for 5 classic ball games, where the average winning margin was just 2.4 points. Five memorable games, indeed.

In fact, the Eagles won more games in their head-to-head series with the Archers at 3-2. However, the Archers won when it mattered the most. As Coach Franz said, this may be the only time when 2 wins are better than 3.

Congrats to the Blue Eagles for a great season and for those 5 heart-stopping games!

Special Congrats to the Green Archers for prevailing! Now, on to the Finals!!

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Link to the "Never Shall We Fail" banner.

 

New York Times Article: Ateneo-La Salle Rivalry

Got this from the New York Times:

A Nation’s Passion Lives in a Rivalry of Green vs. Blue
By RAPHAEL BARTHOLOMEW

QUEZON CITY, the Philippines, Sept. 21 — Senators, foreign diplomats, cabinet ministers, a smattering of Forbes’s 40 richest Filipinos, movie stars and enough professional basketball players to play five-on-five. They are the elite of Philippine society, and they all gather at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City to watch the men’s basketball rivalry between the universities Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle.

La Salle Coach Franz Pumaren said, “The janitors in Araneta always say, ‘If there’s an Ateneo-La Salle game, once everybody’s out of the coliseum, it still smells good because of the all the socialites watching.’ ”

In the basketball-crazed Philippines, where former players have become senators and nearly every public square has its own court, it is hard to imagine a crowd like this assembling for any other event. Kristie A. Kenney, the United States ambassador, attended the season’s first meeting between Ateneo and La Salle in late July.

Ateneo and La Salle are the most prestigious private universities in the country. The question of which institution provides a superior education is a toss-up; the tie breakers take place on the basketball court.

Read the rest of the article here

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Honestly, and no offense to my Atenean friends and supporters, I was wondering why the article seems so biased until I read that tiny description about the writer: Raphael Bartholomew, who did research at Ateneo de Manila University and was an adjunct lecturer there, is writing a book about Philippine basketball.

Just a quick note on Mike Cortez and the game fixing allegations: I am not totally sure but the rumor might really have originated from a fellow La Sallian. However, I am more certain of this: the La Salle community continues to support "The Cool Cat". I was there when he was welcomed back on campus, as he was playing in the Alaska - TNT exhibition game at the DLSU Sports Center, several months after the UAAP finals and game fixing allegations. And I can only tell from experience.

And what's with the "squeaky-clean" image of Ateneo? I'm ready to admit about the swagger of DLSU players - or most UAAP players (not just La Salle, and including Ateneo) for that matter. I'd say each school has its share of bad apples. And please, that a player's surname is "Salamat" (meaning "thank you" in Tagalog) doesn't have anything to do with the school's image, in the same way that saying that the La Salle point guard's nickname is "TY" (Thank You), is frivolous and irrelevant.

 

Late Night and a Loss

It's past 4am here and I'm still awake from checking on live updates on the DLSU - ADMU UAAP basketball game. What a game!

I've been getting my updates at Ap.com, Gameface, and 88DB. I just keep on pressing the F5 button on these three pages to get the latest updates from those kind individuals who post the scores and game events while watching.

It sure must be intensely exciting in Araneta and even in the homes of those watching the game from TV. I can tell because I am alone here sitting here in my computer and I can feel the tension. Haha!

Last I checked, it's an 80-77 overtime win by Ateneo. Congrats to the Eagles!

Of course, I am disappointed with the loss. From what I've been reading, the Archers were terrible at the free throw line, a couple of players were not able to step up, and quite a number of turnovers were committed.

But, I'm still proud of the Archers! Hope they do better next time. Special mention to JV Casio for leading the La Salle comeback in the 4th quarter.

Animo La Salle!

 

DLSU Students Top Microsoft IT Contest

La Salle studes top IT contest
By Rainier Allan Ronda
The Philippine Star 05/04/2007
Link: http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200705040406.htm

A team from De La Salle University (DLSU), composed of four computer science and computer engineering students, won the top prize in a nationwide software design contest sponsored by leading global information technology giant Microsoft.

The university’s "Cross+Linked" team, led by 20-year-old Franchere Chan and made up of members Mary Ann Ngo, Lance Lim and Ryan Ong, were chosen as champion of Microsoft’s 5th Imagine Cup held at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center in Makati City yesterday for their winning "IE STAR" software program.

The DLSU team bested four other teams from the Ateneo de Manila University which fielded two teams, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and the Technological University of the Philippines.

Tim Vergel de Dios, Academic Developer Evangelist of Microsoft Philippines, said that as champions of the Imagine Cup Philippines, DLSU’s "Cross+Linked" team will be the country’s representative to the Imagine Cup World Finals to be held in Seoul, South Korea later this year.

De Dios said the five entries of the four schools in yesterday’s local finals were the most innovative and interesting programs from almost 30 entries.

"There were many excellent entries but we had to screen them and narrow them down to get five entries for today’s local finals," Vergel de Dios told reporters.

De Dios said the continuously growing number of entries to their annual "Imagine Cup" indicated the success of the program, which aims to encourage young people to "apply their imagination, passion and creativity to technology innovations that make a difference in the world today."

Chan, leader of the "Cross+Linked" team, said that she and her teammates were deeply honored and proud of their achievement.

Explaining their IE STAR program, Chan said that it was a data organization and browsing software that will help a person doing research over the Internet to file and store important "nuggets of information" through an easy retrieval system and user-friendly layout and browser system.

"It’s a data organization program that will be helpful to someone doing research over the Internet," Chan told The STAR.

The ADMU’s Team "Pi" took second place in the contest while Colegio de San Juan de Letran’s "Innovative Mind and Individual" team won third place.

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By the way, I just learned that DLSU's IT Department was recently named as CHED Center of Excellence (COE). Out of over a hundred colleges and universities that applied, only nine qualified as COEs: De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines (UP) - Diliman, UP - Los Baños, UP - Cebu, Asia Pacific College, Angeles University Foundation, Cebu Institute of Technology, and University of the Cordilleras.

We need more.