The Distance Between: Does Standings Matter?

A glance at the current standings in both the UAAP and NCAA Men’s basketball tournament standings will show that the top teams, Ateneo and San Sebastian, respectively, are at 9 wins and 0 losses. At second place are Adamson (7-3) and San Beda (8-1)*, respectively, and coming in at third for each league are FEU (6-4) and Letran (7-2). At first sight, the records may show that there are two, maybe three teams fighting for the top spot in either league. The records may quickly change as the playdates continue. But, a deeper analysis, which actually means just a casual look back at what has transpired so far in UAAP Season 74 and NCAA Season 87, reveals that what may be true in the NCAA is farthest from the truth in the UAAP.

Last Friday, 19 August 2011, San Beda and San Sebastian of the NCAA had identical 8-0 records. They met at the San Juan Arena to renew a feud that would, conveniently, place the winner at the top of the standings with an unblemished record. What took place was, in our observation, one of the best college basketball games in recent memory. From the get-go, these teams went at each other with everything they had, and even down to the last seconds of the ballgame, the outcome was not certain. There were more than 20 lead-changes and several deadlocks. The alleged star players shined brightest, but the role players, the bench players, also affected the outcome. The last five minutes of the game had some of the greatest offensive and defensive exchanges this season, if not of all time. The Red Lions of veteran champion player and coach Frankie Lim are great, but without their man in the middle from last season, the other teams are slightly more confident to attack them. The Stags, under neophyte coach Topex Robinson, are relentless. Their first round matchup was a basketball fan’s dream. We are sure even San Beda fans, though smarting a bit from the loss, could only nod their heads in approval of the classic game they just witnessed.

Despite the outcome of the game, a two-point Stag victory, nobody is really sure which the better team is. The game went down the wire as San Beda could have won it. For now, San Sebastian has bragging rights, but they will eventually meet again, and if the Lions win that one, equalizing the record for the season, then really, who is the better team? The talent between these two teams is immense. Marcelo, Lanete, Caram, the Pascuals (from both teams), Abueva, Sangalang, etc., are superb basketball talents. Perhaps the reason why these two teams go to battle so intensely is because they know they are so much alike – talent-laden, with just the right amount of brashness, cockiness and arrogance, which endears them to their fans. Rabid fans of each team want to rip out the guts of the other, but when lucid, they realize that these are fabulous times to watch San Beda-San Sebastian games live at the venue.

Given all the foregoing, we may forget the Letran Knights. They are a mere half game back of San Beda, and they have won convincingly against some opponents. They could give the top two teams a hard time, although they are a distant third in reality, even if they did give San Sebastian a scare during their first meeting. There may be other pretenders from game to game, but the top two teams in the NCAA are without doubt – the question remaining is, which of them is better?

It has been said time and again that anything can happen in sports, particularly in basketball, where the old-timers always told us “bilog ang bola” (the ball is round), i.e., you never know what can happen during any game. Just last night, the PBA crowned an underdog champion, which beat a heavily-favored, all-star laden line-up seeking a coveted Grand Slam. Who knows what the remainder of the college basketball season has in store? We learned in mathematics that 2 comes just after 1. In the NCAA, the distance between 1 and 2 is as close as you can get. In the UAAP, it is miles apart.