THE first pairing of the NCAA Season 101 semifinals will pit a proud team looking to regain their crown against a squad who’s hoping for its first ever coronation.
Perpetual Help, the top-seed of Group A, will tackle Group B’s third placer Letran in a best-of-three semifinals affair starting on Tuesday, 11 AM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Altas will look to get closer to lifting their first ever NCAA men’s basketball trophy by making the finals for the first time in 21 years against a team who’s now starting to reclaim its place in the tournament.
After a completing a three-peat, the Knights missed out on the previous two semifinals, and now that they’re back in a familiar place,
Here we take a look at how these two teams stack up against each other.
How they got here
Perpetual’s path to the semifinals met some turbulence as after going 8-1, they lost their next three games of the tournament. Luckily for coach Olsen Racela, his boys were able to steady the ship by winning their last game against Lyceum, before dispatching Jose Rizal University in the quarterfinals.
Letran, on the other hand, settled for a third place finish in Group A, the so-called group of death, but seems to peaking just in time. The Knights won its last two games in the classification before running through a gritty Arellano side, winning twice over the higher-seeded team in a show force.
READ: Letran completes NCAA semis cast by eliminating Arellano
Their lone meeting this year ended with Letran taking a 63-56 win behind the hot-shooting of Deo Cuajao.
Battle of offense vs. defense
In this meeting, styles will clash as the best offensive team in Letran takes on the league’s top defensive squad in Perpetual.
Behind Titing Manalili, the Knights are running the league’s most entertaining offense with the squad posting a league 79.3 points per game. Manalili has plenty of options on who he’ll get the ball to, from his favorite running mate in the high-flying Kevin Santos (11.9 PPG) mid-range wizard Jimboy Estrada (14.5 PPG), and the deadly Deo Cuajao (11.3 PPG).
READ: Top seed Perpetual aces tough test from JRU to advance to semis
Putting the ball in the hoop isn’t a problem for Letran cause as a team, the Knights have eight players who are at least averaging 6.2 points a game.
The Altas, on the other hand, have been impeccable defensively.
Coach Olsen Racela’s boys ranks first in points allowed per game (66.6), total field goal percentage allowed (35.3 percent) and points in the paint allowed (28.1).
The most impressive thing about this feat? The Altas are doing this without fouling, being the team with the least fouls per game at just 18.6 a night while giving just 17 free throws per game.
That defensive strength comes from the discipline of his players, combined with their length and the ability to switch and rotate properly given the size of their guards and their forward, from Patrick Sleat, to John Abis, JP Boral and even Mark Gojo Cruz.
Share the wealth
Expect plenty of ball movement and nifty passes when these two teams collide as they are the two teams with the most number of assists per night.
Letran leads the tournament with 19.6 assists per game, with 69.3 percent of their shots coming from a pass. Perpetual, on the other hand, isn’t that far behind with 18.7 assists a night, with 74 percent of their baskets coming from assists.
READ: You aren't afraid of Perpetual? 'Sleaty Boy,' Altas don't care
The way the ball is distributed, however, varies from those squads.
Letran’s offense starts and ends with Manalili, and for a good reason. The Cebuano guard is considered by many as the best pure point guard in college today, posting averages of 9.1 assists a ball game.
The Knights’ offense basically runs on Manalili’s playmaking. From setting up his shooters, running the two-man game with his bigs or finding his wing leaking out for a fastbreak, Manalili pretty much carries the bulk of the playmaking for Letran.
Perpetual, on the other hand, lives and dies with their sets. Coach Olsen certainly has the players to run his system as Sleat, Gojo Cruz, Abis and Shawn Orgo are all able, and willing, passers.
Familiar faces
An interesting sidestory of this clash would be Jun Roque and Mark Denver Omega clashing with their old school.
The two were integral pieces of the Altas side two years ago before deciding to join the Knights and are now key pieces of Letran’s rotation.
READ: Jun Roque finding his rhythm just in time for semis-bound Letran
Roque missed half of the classification phase with a shoulder injury, including their lone meeting against the Altas but is slowly finding his way back to the Knights’ rotation, having played 30 minutes and scoring 11 in their semis-clinching win over Arellano.
Omega, on the other hand, has been a solid enforcer for the Knights – posting averages of 6.4 points and five rebounds a game.
Match-up to watch: Titing Manalili vs. Mark Gojo Cruz
All eyes will be on the clash of the two best young guards in the NCAA today in Manalili and Gojo Cruz, a rivalry that dates back to their high-school days when they were playing for the Squires and Junior Altas respectively.
Manalili got the better of Gojo Cruz when they crossed paths in the NCAA Season 99 Juniors basketball tournament, as his Letran Squires denied Gojo Cruz and the Junior Altas a championship in a three-game affair.
READ: Ricardo, Manalili stand in way of Gojo Cruz's title hopes again
Now, they meet in the playoffs for the first time in college – still the two leaders of their squads.
Aside from his league best 9.1 assists per game, Manalili is also putting up 13.4 points per game, nearly five rebounds and two steals a contest, making him one the names which often pop up in MVP conversations in the league.
While Gojo Cruz’s numbers aren’t as eye-popping as Manalili, he’s carved out his own star role with the Altas with averages of 13.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, while being tasked to defend the opposing team’s best perimeter player.
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