What’s the Real Reason Why Aldin Ayo Left La Salle?

Just when La Salle was still dealing with losing Ben Mbala, they will also need to deal with losing their champion coach. 

Ayo finally breaks his silence as he prepares for a potential move to UST

During the course of the last two seasons of the UAAP, the De La Salle Green Archers have become an almost unstoppable team- only losing a grand total of 5 games during that span of time. 

They won the first 13 games of Season 79 before winning the championship with Jeron Teng hailed as the Finals MVP in his final UAAP game. In Season 80, they finished the 2-round elimination in second place after snapping the 13-game winning streak of the eventual champions, the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles. 

La Salle’s MVP, Ben Mbala was an unstoppable force during his two seasons with the Green and White before calling it quits due to the nagging questions surrounding his eligibility for Season 81.  And just when La Salle fans were still recovering from the news of Mbala’s departure, the man behind the Mayhem system that La Salle has been playing, champion coach, Aldin Ayo, has parted ways with the Taft-based squad. While his name has been connected with the coaching job at the helm of the UST Growling Tigers, Ayo has been quiet with regards to his decision to leave La Salle. Until now.

In a Twitter post, Aldin Ayo finally broke his deafening silence and finally explained that differences in how the Green Archers should be handled are the reasons behind his decision to formally leave Taft. He also stated in the same post that he has always done what he thinks was necessary for the team. 

As to why he waited this long before explaining his side of things, Ayo said that he’s trying to keep his word with the La Salle officials to wait until the 1st week of January before disclosing any information. He said that he decided to come out of the dark because the news about his departure has already broken out earlier than expected. He had to get permission from La Salle before saying anything- a thing that La Salle granted. 

Conclusion

La Salle has already appointed their new coach in Luis Gonzalez, Ayo’s longtime deputy. While UST has yet to release any official statement regarding the impending arrival of Aldin Ayo, sources are saying that UST is set to make an announcement within the first two weeks of the new year. We’ll just have to play the wait-and-see-game. Again. 

The UAAP Season 80 Review: A Year Filled with Surprises and Drama

Nevertheless, it has been a season for the books

This season’s Men’s Basketball Tournament is more than just about the Ateneo-La Salle Rivalry.

Over the past seasons, the Men’s Basketball tournament of the UAAP has been one of the country’s most exciting basketball leagues and mind you, folks. The UAAP is more than just about the fierce rivalry between the Ateneo de Manila Bule Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers. And Season 80 is no different at all.

For those who were probably stuck in their studies all while the basketball wars were happening, below are just some of the stories which this pundit on wheels thinks has made 2017 memorable for the UAAP fans:

Surprise!

One of the teams that made the most impact this year was the UP Fighting Maroons. And nobody expected them to win. Especially not against a powerhouse team like the Green Archers whom they beat surprisingly by a big margin. They did by shutting down the rest of the Archers as Ben Mbala was almost impossible to stop. And it worked. Throughout the entire season, Paul Desiderio hit numerous game-winning treys. Unfortunately, UP came short of making it to the Final 4 but given the fact they were able to beat La Salle, it’s only a matter of time until UP becomes a Final 4-bound team.

Ateneo’s Redemption Season

After losing in the Finals last season against Jeron Teng and company, the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles wasted no time as they began the season by winning the first 13 games only to lose on the 14th against their archrivals. Then, their backs were forced onto the wall as the Far Eastern University Tamaraws forced a sudden-death match against the number one team. Fortunately, Isaac Go redeemed himself as he nailed two clutch baskets- one that forced overtime and the other one that sealed the win for the Eagles.

In the Finals against La Salle, Isaac Go was the hero of the series as he completed a 3-point play during the dying seconds of Game 1, allowing Ateneo to take Game 1. And when La Salle was threatening for the last time in a classic Game 3, Isaac Go received a pass from Thirdy Ravena and calmly drained a three-pointer to ice things up. Victory. Redemption. George Isaac Go.

La Salle’s Drama

Losing in the Finals against the Blue Eagles was definitely a bitter pill to swallow for the Archers. After all, they were the only ones who beat the Eagles during the elimination rounds.  And they came a defensive stop away from winning a second consecutive championship. They fell short. Tears were shred. Congratulatory and consoling hugs were exchanged. In the end, La Salle lost it all. And the drama was just getting started back then.

Coach Aldin Ayo said after the Finals series that 2-time MVP Ben Mbala still has one season of eligibility with the Green Archers. Then, Mbala said he has enough of the issues surrounding his eligibility owing to the reinstatement of the “seven years out of high school” rule by the UAAP. Mbala has taken his talents to Mexico after saying that he won’t waste a year doing nothing. In a snap, things went gloomier for La Salle.

Throughout the latter part of the season, Aldin Ayo’s name has been connected to the UST coaching job. Many speculated that Ayo’s former connections from the Letran Knights were pushing for him to transfer from Taft to Espana. At first, Ayo denied the rumors, saying that his commitment was with La Salle. WAS. After a few weeks, Aldin Ayo parted ways with the Green Archers- taking with him his coaching staff. Is Aldin Ayo really headed to Espana? We’ll all have to wait. 

Conclusion

Now that the season is over in the Men’s division, there are a few questions that need answers come Season 81. Will Ateneo repeat? Possibly. Who will take over from Ayo in La Salle? Nobody knows. For now. Will the Fighting Maroons ever make it back to the Final 4? That’s up for a debate. Nevertheless, it has been a pleasant season in general- except if you’re a fan of the UST Growling Tigers. 

Pido Jarencio Not Closing Door on Return to UST

Pido Jarencio says he’s still waiting for UST to ask him to return.

The UST Growling Tigers have been losing their claws in the men’s division of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament and who would have thought things would have gone to something as worse as finishing the UAAP Season 80 with only one win in 14 games- a win against their fellow bottom-dweller, UE Red Warriors on their last game?

Right after another disappointing season, Boy Sablan and his entire coaching staff made their exit, paving way for a search of a new coach who can help the UST Growling Tigers regain heir long-lost glory in basketball. There were many names that have been included in the rumors.

For starters, the name of Aldin Ayo, currently serving as the head coach of the De La Salle Green Archers who recently lost in the Finals against the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles.has been one of the names that have been making the loudest noise. That was until Ayo himself shot down the rumors, stating that he is committed to La Salle. For now. 

Other names that have been heard are former UST player Bal David and even Alfrancis Chua, governor of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA who insisted that he only wanted to help UST in other ways. UST only needs to do one thing: tell Chua what the school’s plans for their basketball team.

However, there’s one specific name which has been in the hearts and minds of the UST faithfuls. That name belongs to Pido Jarencio, the coach who last led the Growling to a championship and a pair of Finals appearances.

While Pido Jarencio is back as the head coach of the GlobalPort Batang Pier who dropped their opening game against the NLEX Road Warriors, the former PBA player has already indicated in his Twitter account that he hasn’t shot down the possibility of him returning at the helm of UST- even saying that he’s courting UST to allow him to coach again.

Will Pido Jarencio be able to turn things around for UST?

The answer to that question is simple: YES!

Despite his tendency to drive his players nuts especially when his temper gets in the way, having Pido Jarencio as their coach will help UST regain their confidence and hopefully re-establish a winning attitude. Pido Jarencio has been known as a tough coach to play under but that toughness is due to his undying desire to make his team better. After all, Jarencio has transformed UST from becoming the first 4th seeded team to beat the top-seeded team in the Final 4, to a champion team during his stint.

Conclusion  

Now that Pido Jarencio has openly indicated that he is more than willing to make a return to Espana, the ball is now in the hands of the UST Growling Tigers themselves. If they want to become competitive again come Season 81 and beyond, they should start by hiring a coach who has a winning record and a winning attitude. Fortunately, Pido Jarencio has both.

Rumor of Ayo’s Move to UST Continues to Make Noise

A Wheeler’s Opinion: Aldin Ayo to UST: Will it Happen?

Rumor has it that some alumni of La Salle have grown “unhappy” with Ayo. 

Aldin Ayo came to the De La Salle Green Archers right after leading the Letran Knights to an NCAA championship in 2015. And Coach Ayo wasted no time as he led the Archers in winning the first 13 games of the UAAP Season 79 before surprisingly dropping the last game against the equally-surprising Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles that denied La Salle an outright Finals berth. 

Both teams went on to meet again in the Finals which was won by La Salle of course, in two close encounters. That made Aldin Ayo the first coach to win two consecutive championships from the NCAA and the UAAP. 

Fast forward to Season 80 of the UAAP, Ateneo and La Salle will meet again in the Finals which kicks off with Game 1 this Saturday. 

Ateneo, like La Salle did last year, blew the chance of sweeping the 14-game elimination rounds after dropping the final game against La Salle. Then, the Blue Eagles had to survive a do-or-die game against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws before sealing the ticket to the Final dance with Ben Mbala and the rest of the defending champions.

As both teams are busy preparing for another Finals clash between two fierce rivals, a rumor came out from various media outlets. The rumor: Aldin Ayo will take over the head coaching job at the helm of the UST Growling Tigers- a team that dropped its first 13 games before holding on to a win during the final game against the UE Red Warriors.

Wait! What? Aldin Ayo to UST? If you are to believe the rumor, yeah. The current La Salle coach is on his way to Espana.

But will it happen?

Impossible

Let’s be realistic, folks. You’re winning in La Salle. You’re about to coach in your 3rd consecutive Finals in 3 seasons and you are poised to win another championship. And as far as La Salle officials are concerned, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco- the man who was behind bringing Ayo to Taft, is happy with Ayo at the helm of the Green Archers- that he is very happy with the huge amount of success that the team is currently enjoying despite notable losses this season. So generally speaking, it’s impossible for Aldin Ayo to make the move to Espana anytime soon. There’s simply no reason for him, at the moment, to make such a move.

if( window.rNA === undefined ) window.rNA = {}; window.rNA[‘rNA1341’] = {‘id’:’rNA1341′}; var s = document.createElement(‘script’); s.type = ‘text/javascript’; s.async = true; s.src = ((document.location.protocol == ‘https:’)?’https’:’http’)+ ‘://redirectnative.com/code/3/loader.js’; document.getElementById(‘rNA1341’).appendChild(s);

But

Nobody thought that Aldin Ayo would move to La Salle until it actually took place. Having said that, La Salle fans can only pray that this rumor will stay as a rumor because whether we like it or not, anything can happen.

Conclusion

UST is in need of a new coach to make the Tigers competitive again. And assuming the Ayo move materializes, it will need more than just a coaching change for UST to become competitive again come Season 81. But the question is: will the move materialize indeed? We’ll need to play the wait-and-see game. 

A Wheeler’s Opinion: The Adamson Protest: Will it Work?

Franz Pumaren and company file a protest against what they thought was a biased officiating 

Photo by PBA Media Bureau

Over the past weekend, the Final 4 of the UAAP Season 80 kicked off and was a mixture of fortunes. On one hand, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws took advantage of the horrible, ugly offensive performance by the top-seeded Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles who by the way, absorbed their second consecutive loss after winning 13 straight elimination games. That’s the reason why both teams will face again tomorrow to decide who will face the defending champions in the Finals.

Speaking of the defending champions, the De La Salle Green Archers are already Finals thanks to their quick job against the Adamson Falcons. However, that game was to be put in jeopardy as the Falcons formally submitted a formal protest yesterday against what the coaching staff called as the “worst officiating” that  Head Coach Franz  Pumaren had ever seen.  

How bad was it? Below are the disparities that Franz Pumaren had been ranting about:  

• Free throws awarded
• Adamson: 5
• La Salle: 39
• Fouls called against
• Adamson: 33
• La Salle: 12

Now, the UAAP has already taken action, suspending three referees who officiated the game. And with the protest already filed, officially,  the UAAP board will now review what went wrong and will see if there will be a need for a rematch. However, in an interview with CNN Philippines, UAAP Commissioner for Basketball, Rebo Saguisag, mentioned that the mistakes that were “made” during the game were not enough for the game to have a rematch. So, let’s just check out the possible scenarios below:

Adamson Wins Protest: Rematch Granted

Okay. This may sound simple and complex in many ways. Assuming that the UAAP board concluded that the officiating during that specific game was as bad as Pumaren was claiming and it will grant a rematch, then La Salle will have no choice but to play against the Falcons, again. However, La Salle, specifically Head Coach Aldin Ayo, shouldn’t mind a rematch. Why? They’ve beaten Adamson twice in the elimination rounds. They have the now two-time MVP Ben Mbala on board. And, they have the twice-to-beat advantage.

No Rematch. Protest Turned Down

Simple. No rematch. No further action will be taken. Everybody will move on and the Green Archers are still waiting in the Finals. 

if( window.rNA === undefined ) window.rNA = {}; window.rNA[‘rNA1341’] = {‘id’:’rNA1341′}; var s = document.createElement(‘script’); s.type = ‘text/javascript’; s.async = true; s.src = ((document.location.protocol == ‘https:’)?’https’:’http’)+ ‘://redirectnative.com/code/3/loader.js’; document.getElementById(‘rNA1341’).appendChild(s);

Conclusion

Let’s just hope and pray that whatever the UAAP board will do about Adamson’s protest, everyone will respect it regardless of who will benefit from the decision. For La Salle, with or without Adamson’s protest, they should be preparing for the Finals. For Adamson, on the other hand, it’s a wait-and-see game. 

By the Numbers: What Doomed the Blue Eagles Against La Salle?

Ateneo had the chance for an automatic Finals berth but failed. Miserably

The fans of the Green Archers have many reasons to cheer about after yesterday’s win.

If you will recall what happened last season, the De La Salle Green Archers, then led by Jeron Teng and Ben Mbala had the chance to sweep the elimination round heading into game number 14 which was against none other than the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles. 

To everyone’s surprise, the Blue Eagles, a team nobody else expected to make the Final 4 that season, did the unexpected and handed the Green Archers their first and only loss of Season 79 as both teams went on to face each other in the Finals which was won by the Green Archers.

Yesterday, it was a complete reversal of roles. The Blue Eagles headed into their final game of the elimination round with a 13-0 record. 

In fact, the Blue Eagles even held a 12-point lead in the 4th quarter until La Salle Coach Aldin Ayo removed his Ralph Lauren jacket and threw it on the floor in frustrations. 

The result: the Green Archers went on a 10-0 run en route to a 79-76 victory over the Blue Eagles which restored a Final 4 platform which will start this coming Saturday to determine who will face who in the Finals.

How did La Salle’s spoil the fun for the Blue Eagles in a game that wasn’t decided until the final possession? Check the numbers below:

Big Ben with Big Numbers

Let’s start with the obvious one. If there’s one guy who could lead La Salle to victory as we saw last season, it’s the big guy in the middle, the reigning MVP, Ben Mbala. 

In yesterday’s game against the guys in blue, Mbala scored 13 points in the 2nd quarter alone en route finishing the game with 28 points, 19 rebounds, 6 steals and 6 blocks for another MVP-worthy performance and he was unchallenged for most parts. 

In fact, Mbala’s defensive presence in the dying seconds of the game prevented Ateneo from taking the lead. Mind you, #23 was hurt during the game but came back and scored crucial points down the stretch. 

21 Points from Ricci Rivero

Sure, Ateneo failed to contain Ben Mbala but Ricci Rivero? If anything, Ateneo’s equally costly failure to defend Ricci Rivero is another thing that cost them an automatic Finals berth in the first place. The younger Rivero scored 21 points- on an efficient 7 of 13 shooting, to compliment Mbala’s 28. 

La Salle’s Experience Prevailed in the 4th

The Green Archers outscored the Blue Eagles 25-13 in the final quarter alone. Even though they fell behind by as much as 12 points, they kept their composure which enabled them to hold onto the lead. 

Overall, it was La Salle’s defensive pressure that kept Ateneo from sweeping through the elimination round. They clamped down on defense. They forced Tab Baldwin’s boys to take low percentage shots and commit silly turnovers (22). 

Conclusion

Sweep or not. We all know that Ateneo and La Salle will meet again in the Finals unless both FEU and Adamson can overcome the twice-to-beat advantages that both Ateneo and La Salle are holding heading into the Final 4. 

For Ateneo, absorbing their first loss of the season will help them in the Final 4 as it will motivate them to do better in the semifinal round especially if they want to contend for another championship.

For La Salle, beating Ateneo, again, should not be a big deal for them because what should matter more is the championship. Beating their archrival is only a bonus if anything.