Welcome back! I know it’s been a while, but let’s-a-go!
First, let’s-a-talk about my new blog theme. I’m from the Philippines, and I love the UAAP. So I’m changing the theme of my blog!
Putting that aside though, let’s-a-talk about arguably the greatest UAAP team ever, the Season 69 UST Growling Tigers. They went from tied for 7th to the championship. Let’s-a-go back in time to 2006.
It was December 2005. My friend, Trina, told me about the UAAP, and how she loved watching it. Coincidentally, my first season watching had the De La Salle Green Archers suspended from the league due to cheating in the Season 67 finals.
Heading into the 69th season (my first season watching), I saw UST’s first few games, and noticed that they weren’t doing so well. Wikipedia said that they ended the 1st round 2-5:
Before the 2nd round started, I made a prediction of the standings:
Ateneo
UE
Adamson
FEU
NU
UP
UST
But for some reason, UST went 5-2 in the 2nd round. And they tied for 3rd with Adamson, winning the playoff game:
Heading into the Final Four (yes, no Sweet 16 and Elite 8), we saw an Ateneo-UE finals coming. But for some reason, UST made it to the finals.
When the finals started, Luigi & I knew we needed to buy tickets. In Game 1, we were in section 206 (lower bowl/lower box), and the crowd was roaring. With 1 second left, we thought UST would win, and this was the first time we expected them to. But Ateneo won. I’m not telling you how they did, so if you want to see for yourself, please watch this: https://youtu.be/33zvl9RDkdU
Game 2 was a different story, UST won and tied the series 1-1. So, let’s skip to Game 3.
Game 3 was the final game (it’s best of three). Although Ateneo probably had more skill, luck was on UST’s side. Two unlucky misses by JC Intal in regulation and overtime helped UST win the championship.
Season 69 info:
Host: UE (from https://youtu.be/7gQrD90eDtk, all the following are from Wikipedia)
Most Valuable Player: Ken Bono (Adamson Soaring Falcons)
Rookie of the Year: Woody Co (UP Fighting Maroons)
Mythical Team:
Guard: Marvin Cruz (UP Fighting Maroons)
Guard: Jeffrei Chan (FEU Tamaraws)
Forward: JC Intal (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
Forward: Jervy Cruz (UST Growling Tigers)
Center: Ken Bono (Adamson Soaring Falcons)
Gilette Breakout Player: JC Intal (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
PSBank Maasahan (Dependable) Player: Ken Bono (Adamson Soaring Falcons)
Coach of the Year: Pido Jarencio (UST Growling Tigers)
Player of the Year: JC Intal (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
Scoring Champion: Ken Bono (Adamson Soaring Falcons)
Mr. Clutch: Jojo Duncil (UST Growling Tigers)
Defensive Player: Jervy Cruz (UST Growling Tigers)
Sixth Man: Dylan Ababou (UST Growling Tigers)
Comeback Player: Chris Tiu (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
Most Improved Player: Marvin Cruz (UP Fighting Maroons)
Sportsmanship Award: Jeffrei Chan (FEU Tamaraws)
Energy Player: Marcy Arellano (UE Red Warriors)
Thank you for reading! If you have a suggestion on what I should write next, please let me know.