Humblebola

Whaddup Tobs,

As seven-plus years of friendship will attest, you shouldn’t be surprised that I’m replying only after two weeks. What can I say, life’s been kicking my ass around as of late (as it always does every September), and most of it is because of the UAAP.

The same exact thing that you, me, everyone in HB, and our respective friend groups love to infinity, yet always stress about when the time comes. It’s almost always for good reasons to.

The fact of the matter is that we’re not getting any younger. All of us are entering new phases in our lives (both in a personal and professional setting), and I love that for us. I fondly remember our group spending days and weeks talking about anything and everything about basketball like which rules would be best applied in the Philippine context, what we expect from the upcoming UAAP season, and whether Karlo’s offensive “bag” is really just him elbowing opponents and teammates alike. (To be fair, it isn’t, but it’s like 75% of it, so make of that what you will.)

If you remember at one point, most of us were convinced that we will (in a way) outgrow the UAAP and focus on our career paths as the adults from the generations ahead of us did — mainly to focus on building and sustaining families of their own. But for us special group of idiots, the UAAP men’s basketball tournament is a yearly spectacle that we can expect to occur in the latter half of the year — come hell or high water.

Season 89’s been an absolute banger thus far, I have to agree. Here’s what happened this past weekend if you missed out:

·         Reinhard Jumamoy led the NU Bulldogs in handing the UP Fighting Maroons their first loss of the campaign, ensuring that there would be no stepladder playoffs come late November.

·         The FEU Tamaraws earned their first win with a 23-point drubbing of the UE Red Warriors. It was confirmed just hours before the game that head coach Chris Gavina had resigned.

·         Jared Bahay, Travis Roberts, and Ian Espinosa combined for 42 points of Ateneo’s 73 to edge out Adamson. (my personal pick for game of the season so far) (editor’s note: Of course it is)

Regarding the Bulldogs, I said on Naveen’s podcast that they’d end up with a 6-8 record. With what I’ve seen from their first three games, I think I’ll end up being wrong here. Despite losing top talents Jake Figueroa, Steve Nash Enriquez, and Jolo Manansala, they’re making up for it by fully going all-in on head coach Jeff Napa’s guidance. Jumamoy continues to impress. The frontcourt dual big boys of Kenshin Padrones and PJ Palacielo play hefty, but have great finesse, and decent three-point shooting. Paul Francisco remains an important JR Smith-esque player that can turn up the scoring and play good perimeter defense. Hell, even rookie Mac Alfanta is showing early signs of being a “hooper’s hooper”.

Meanwhile, the UE Red Warriors are going through yet another transition phase, as Paulo Hubalde steps in as interim coach following Gavina’s departure. My problem with that is this: Gavina isn’t the only problem with the program. Buti sana kung LAHAT ng may kasalanan sa losing streak mawala na sa programa because the university, its storied history in the tournament, and the ever-supportive students deserve showrunners that will put the right things at the forefront. I have no idea what the hell is happening behind the scenes, but as someone who appreciates history in all its forms — they need to get the f- outta here.

As for my Ateneo Blue Eagles, I’m happy to see Travis Roberts start to get his groove. Flev mentioned in the same podcast ep with Navs that he’ll be the key to unlocking Ateneo’s ceiling, and I fully agree. Jared Bahay and Kieffer Alas (who had an off game in this one) will always get their numbers somehow. With them operating as the 1A and 1B, there needs to be a clear No. 2 for Season 89, and good Lord, I wish for it to be Roberts. The Blue Eagles’ success always hinges on having an elite-level winger, and the one-and-done forward needs to put up these types of games against DLSU, UST, FEU, and especially UP.

One more thing before I move on. I’ve been checking people’s thoughts on the season thus far over at r/UAAP, and man. People need to chill out a bit.

We’re not even done with the first round, and I’ve already seen some crazy takes. (Paraphrased for your reading sanity)

·         Topex Robinson deserves to be fired after losing to UST

·         We’re not surprised that Ateneo beat Adamson

·         Rhey Remogat is a liability and coach Goldwin Monteverde is overrated lol

·         NU is lucky to be where they are

It might be the trentahin in me speaking, but the online discourse has practically revolved around hot takes and overreactions. Sure, we’ve had our fair share of overreactions in the past, but not to this extent. The negativity will always be a part of online discussions, we can’t turn back at this point. I think there needs to be a bit more positivity and grace extended when talking about the UAAP.

Now that’s out of my system, the women’s basketball tournament has also begun, with the defending champions, the UST Growling Tigers, beating the UE Lady Warriors, 103-58. I mean, what else would you expect from them at this point?

Three women’s basketball games are slated for Wednesday, September 30, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena: NU-Adamson (8 AM), Ateneo-UP (10 AM), and FEU-DLSU (12 NN). I’ll be there for the first couple of games, so I hope to see you there — should schedules align.

Also, regarding that special end-of-round-one project we’ve been discussing, I think me and the Doc have the perfect first guest for what we aim to do.

I was always told that turning 30 would bring great changes to my life, and to an extent it already did. Man, I had a couple of fans ask for a photo with me during a UAAP game. Absolutely cool experience, because seven years ago I was told I wasn’t cut out for sports journalism. I’m eternally grateful for your belief in me when I doubted myself three years ago. I owe a lot of who and where I am now to you and The Boys. Here’s to the next 10 years of The Boys and me in the industry.

It’s always gonna be HB over everything.

The man who (barely) has a plan,

Karl Batungbacal