“Bilog ang bola.” In basketball parlance, this means all teams are equal. Even if one is bad on paper, it has as much chance as anyone to win a game.
We’ve seen a great deal of upsets in basketball since time immemorial. The most notable, at least for this author, was the time the eighth-seed Golden State Warriors pulled off a shocker against top seed Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 NBA playoffs.
Bannered by Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Jason Richardson, the “We Believe” Warriors eventually fell to the Utah Jazz in the second round. But what they were able to accomplish as a team that season was one for the books.
We love stories like that. David beating Goliath. Fernando Poe Jr. taking down a crime syndicate by himself.
Such feats are aplenty in the UAAP. Let us revisit some of the memorable ones in this list.
2006 Finals: UST vs Ateneo
Before the season even began, UST was already written off owing to its failure to reach the Final Four the previous two seasons under coach Reonel Parado.
With firebrand rookie mentor Pido Jarencio, better known as a motivational coach, the Growling Tigers surprised the league with Jojo Duncil, Jervy Cruz, and Dylan Ababou leading the team to the No. 3 spot (6-6 win-loss record) after the elimination round.
In the Final Four, UST completed the Cinderella run by shocking Bonbon Custodio’s UE, and then the heavily-favored Ateneo in three pulsating contests in the finals.
With La Salle suspended, it looked like the Blue Eagles had the championship in the bag already. It was understandable. After all, Ateneo’s roster then was no joke with Grand Slam coach Norman Black at the helm and the likes of JC Intal, Doug Kramer, Chris Tiu at his disposal.
Still, in the fierce battle between the two teams, the ones in black-and-gold emerged victorious.
2007 Finals: La Salle vs UE
UE looked invincible. After sweeping the elimination round, it seemed that no team could beat Dindo Pumaren’s Red Warriors.
James Martinez. Marcy Arellano. Mark Borboran. Elmer Espiritu. UE was a powerhouse team that had Paul Lee, now a PBA superstar, coming off the bench.
But La Salle’s “Redeem Team,” with Ty Tang, JVee Casio, Cholo Villanueva, and Rico Maierhofer at the forefront of its campaign, could not be denied.
The Green Archers played inspired basketball after the school was slapped with a one-season ban for fielding ineligible players, sweeping the Red Warriors in the finale.
It was the perfect comeback.
2013 Final Four: UST vs NU
UST was still groping for form with the loss of team captain Jeric Fortuna, who willed the black-and-gold squad to the finals the season prior. But Pido Jarencio’s wards, armed with “Pride, Puso, Palaban,” crawled back to the Final Four as the fourth seed.
The Growling Tigers were pitted against top ranked National University led by two-time UAAP MVP Ray Parks Jr.
But UST leaned on Jeric Teng, Aljon Mariano, Karim Abdul, and Kevin Ferrer’s airtight defense on Parks (a la Pistons’ Bad Boys vs Michael Jordan) to overcome the twice-to-beat advantage and set up a clash against La Salle in the finals - the first time the two schools met in the finals since 1999.
We all know how this campaign ended, though: Jeron Teng’s La Salle edged his brother Jeric in a three-game affair that had the trappings of a classic.
But if you asked Thomasians about what happened in Game 3 of that Finals, the collective answer would be: “Aljon Mariano.”
2014 Final Four: NU vs Ateneo
It was post-Parks era for NU. With Gelo Alolino, Troy Rosario, Glenn Khobuntin, and Alfred Aroga leading the charge, the Bulldogs did just enough to earn the fourth spot in the Final Four.
But what happened next, no one could have scripted better.
NU fashioned out what UST did the past season in the playoffs, beating top seed Ateneo (11-3)–led by MVP Kiefer Ravena–twice to reach the finals.
Lady Luck, though, continued smiling on the Bulldogs as they won it all at the expense of an FEU side bolstered by Mike Tolomia, Mac Belo, and RR Pogoy.
It was the first championship in 60 years for the once beleaguered Bulldogs.