UAAP Season 80

[baludoy]

with all due respect to mbala, batum and luol deng can shoot outside because, mbala cant.
at their size playing in the NBA, they need that consistent perimeter shot.

watching from TV, I can still see how much more athletic deng and batum are than mbala and that is playing against NBA players. mbala plays against Filipino college players.

my point (.), if mbala is that good, he'll be in the US or at least in Europe playing ball.

oh, i see him playing abroad maybe as early as next year fighting for a spot in the d-league or maybe even in the nba. if he doesn't make the cut there, he's either europe, middle east, or china bound

mbala can shoot the trey as shown by his very decent percentage clip of almost 35% in the just concluded '17 fiba afrobasket tourney and that's considering he didn't even attempt to shoot beyond the arc last season in the uaap. i understand it's just this year that he's developing that long distance weapon probably as a preparation for his move to the next level. at 22 and a late student of basketball, he's still learning the game especially now that he's been exposed to international ball even though he was the mvp of the nba's basketball w/o borders-africa back in 2011

to add to that, he was the 2nd leading scorer of the nba sized '17 fiba afrobasket competitions averaging 21.8 pts w/ an impressive field goal percentage of 48.3 % just behind nigerian-american tournament mvp & bonafide nba vet ike diogu who was co-incidentally picked in the 1st round of the nba draft. mbala was also a force at the boards winding up 2nd in rebounds w/ 9.3 caroms/game.

apparently diogu was also able to ease out mbala in this year's all-tournament team w/c included senegal's 6'11 gorgui dieng of the minnesota timberwolves


from what i gather, the main reason mbala wound up at cebu after his high school years in cameroon was because, him being under the radar, wasn't able to secure an american sponsor w/c gave him zero chances of getting an american visa and some financial assistance for his passage and boarding to the us of a. a case very reminiscent of nu's star volleybelle player jaja santiago, who was invited by ucla to try out for them but was unable to cross the pacific ocean due to liquidity constraints

it's confirmed that european and arab scouts have reached out to the green archer but it's unclear whether nba reps approached him in conflicting reports coming out of fiba

[Verbl Kint]

Note that some scouts do work for teams for both the Euroleague and the NBA.

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[baludoy]

Surprise ace offensive packages in the persons of vince tolentino & chib ikeh help chain the nu bulldogs

Obf!

when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you

[Devastator]

The Oct. 8 showdown is going to be a very very good one.

[CVT]

The Oct. 8 showdown is going to be a very very good one.

The way the two teams have performed so far, I'd say that the Blue Eagles have a definitive advantage over the Green Archers this time.

[kisshmet]

^its better to lose early in the season because gives more time to adjust

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[Verbl Kint]

Interesting match-ups to say the least. Ikeh will have his hands full but I do see Thirdy running amuck on the switches and pick and rolls (both will be in the offing as DLSU will guard against the 3).

[baludoy]

the defending champs are naturally the favored team here but i'd like to believe coach tab's vast knowledge of no frills international ball will negate whatever advantages the green archers have.

personally, i think the current crop of green archers have yet to overcome the huge loss off experience due to the graduation of seasoned veterans like jeron teng and thomas torres. impetus will go to youthful vets kib montalbo and aljun melecio to steady the green machine and hold the fort in the expected face of a frustratingly consistent and emotionless share-the-wealth system implemented by baldwin and co.

[111prez]

Great game for the Blue Eagles this afternoon

Wagi ang discipline!

GO ATENEO! OBF!

FABILIOH!

[Devastator]

Horrible inbounds pass by Montalbo.