|
A TEAM
that sweeps all 14 elimination games of the men’s,
women’s and boys’ basketball tournaments of the
University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP)
will earn a thrice-to-beat advantage in the finals.
And that team which sweeps the
eliminations would need to win twice over its challenger
to pocket the crown.
But coaches of the men’s tournament in
particular, aired different thoughts about the league’s
new rule, which was made official by the UAAP board on
Friday.
Franz Pumaren of defending champion De
La Salle said the new rule is “too much” and is
extremely disadvantageous to the other team that figures
in the finals.
“Beating the team that will sweep the
elimination round three times is very difficult. Pag
dating mo doon [finals], masyado ka ’nang bugbog,”
Pumaren told the BusinessMirror Sunday.
“I understand that it’s a rare feat and
[give] credit where credit is due. But I think having a
twice-to-beat advantage in the finals would be enough,”
he added. “It’s not impossible pero sobrang hirap gawin.”
UAAP secretary-treasurer Herculles
Callanta of host University of the Philippines (UP)
confirmed the implementation of the new rule, which is
akin to a best-of-five series—with a major twist,
though. The new rule is obviously borne out of the
University of the East (UE) experience last season when
the Red Warriors won all 14 games in the eliminations
only to yield, 0-2, in the best-of-three finals to the
Green Archers, who had to labor for two playoff matches
to reach the finals.
“Sana last year pa nila in-apply ’yan,”
said UE coach Dindo Pumaren, the De La Salle mentor’s
younger brother. “But I won’t comment, pero during the
coaches’ meeting, ang sentiment nila ay ‘as is’ muna sa
rule kapag may naka-sweep na team.”
Because of the sweep last season, UE had
to wait 22 days before playing in the series opener. The
long break appeared to haven taken its toll on the Red
Warriors as they played rusty in the two finals games.
Coaches Norman Black of Ateneo and Glen
Capacio of Far Eastern University do not find anything
wrong with the new rule.
“That’s fine with us,” said Capacio,
whose team is one of the heavy favorites in the season,
which opens July 5 at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Either way is okay with us. We will
just abide by whatever the rules are,” said Black.
The UAAP board met on Friday at the
Administration Building at UP Diliman to approve the new
rules this season. Also to be implemented are the
“challenge rule” and the “suspension of the possession
arrow.”
Under the “challenge rule,” a team can
contest a three point shot only once during an entire
game using the instant replay from the television
coverage. The “possession-arrow rule,” on the other
hand, would no longer take effect in the last two
minutes of the game. This is because it was observed
that some teams used the rule to their advantage but to
the game’s detriment. |
