UAAP Thrillers - Part 1

UAAP 2nd Round

Araneta Coliseum 

Three Thrillers in Two days

La Salle  vs  Adamson  [Aug.14]

NU  vs  FEU [Aug.14]

UE  vs  UST [Aug.15]

Except for the Ateneo-UP game [Aug.15], the three other games held  recently on playdates Aug.14 and 15 are all thrilling cliff-hangers - They are all one-point wins - wherein the deciding, marginal point [in each of the referred-to three matches] is scored in the last minute and the team behind is given a chance to take back the lead [and eventually win] with barely seconds left in the game.

In the La Salle Overtime W over Adamson, and Adamson ahead by one [69-68] Almond Vosotros' short put-back jumper bounces on the rim before finally trickling in for two, with 1.8 seconds left in the game.  After a time out, the Falcons throw in but the pass is errant and Jericho Cruz has to scramble to receive it and simply has to shoot the ball in an awkward position, the shot landing, way, way off mark, as time expires. 
Final --> [Archers-70  Falcons-69]

In the NU-FEU match - the Tams are leading 58-56, with 1 minute and 11 seconds left.  At time down to 17.4 ticks left, [score unchanged] Terrence Romeo [being harassed by Maurice Porter], as he is dribbling the ball upcourt, loses control of the ball as he makes a behind-the-back dribble.  Bobby Ray Parks takes the loose ball and sprints upcourt to take it to the hole, and is eventually fouled.  Time is down to about 10 or so ticks.  The next few seconds sees Parks miss the first charity and make the second one.  Another pair of charities is given to NU in the ensuing seconds and the Bulldogs convert both so NU leads by one 59-58. 

With 9.5 seconds left, FEU throws in on their frontcourt.  Chris Tolomia attempts a medium range J that misses. Mark Belo tries to tip in the miss but fails, as the buzzer sounds. Final -->[Bulldogs-59  Tamarraws-58].

The day after the La Salle-Adamson and NU-FEU matches, UE's Red Warriors fight their way back from an eleven point deficiet [coming into the 4th Qtr] to stun the UST Growling Tigers.  Ahead by a point [67-66] and throwing in on their front court - UST's Ed Daquiaog hurls a risky, cross court pass to Kevin Ferrer, who has to leap and strech just to catch the pass, [which he actually does] but as he lands, his left foot touches the line [as the slow mo replay suggests].  - UE ball !

Warriors call time.  They throw in with 18.4 ticks left.  Roi Sumang eludes two defenders, breezes by Karim Abdul, and lays it in for two !! - w/ 8 seconds still left.  With enough time to score and win, the Tigers botch their plays.  Final --> [Warriors-68  Tigers-67]

Am lucky to barely catch Vosotros' putback [I am situated under the Adamson basket, shooting w/ my 400mm tele]. 

Capture Romeo's behind-the-back dribbling error [as he is being harassed by Maurice Porter] with about 15 or so seconds left.   Take a sequence of about 10 shots as the loose ball is picked up by Bobby Ray Parks, who takes it to the hole, only to be duty-fouled .

Stay under the UE basket [in the end-game], even though I am expecting a UST W, so, come the last 8 seconds I capture Roi Sumang's game clinching lay-up [I am in front of him as he lays it in !!].  

During the LAST three  timeouts of UE I am able to discreetly take close ups of Sumang and Jumao-as.

Am able to position myself near RR Garcia [as he is taking oxygen] during FEU's last few timeout huddles, getting close ups of Ryan Roose himself, Terrence Romeo too, seated beside RR..

With time down to 1.8 seconds left, I am crouching in the Falcon huddle, eye level with Coach Leo Austria to my left, and Rodney Brondial right across me - as I try, again, to capture the drama unfolding in front of my eyes.

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Yes, I am fortunate that most of the UAAP players and coaches, along with their staffs - "recognize" me, at least by face, if not, as acquiantances who I've had conversations with, at least, at one time or another.  So, being up-close and personal, shooting eye-level, end-game huddle shoots is somehow more comfortable - I can then stay "hidden in plain sight" .

Taking stills during critical end-game huddles -  -  - "May diskarte yan, hindi siya ganoon ka simple" -  -  - Basta ako humahanap na lang ako ng paraan.

The expressions [taken at the right moment] on the athletes faces .  .  . They can speak volumes  .  .  . and for a portrait artist like me - close ups taken in this scenario - are very challenging to achieve.  I just love those kinds of images to death.

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Now, As I go along , I'll decide how to sequence and pace my images from the aforementioned matches.  This is the first time I'm featuring several matches with mixed & matched images in a series of blog posts - Parts 1 to Part whatever. [I actually have 387 blogworthy/decent images from the  two playdates, Aug.14 and 15] Let's see how I can narrow them down and pace them to effectively to complement my text without overkill.

Hope this will turn out OK [Gotta take the risk to find out].

Just hold on for "Three UAAP Thrillers - Part 2", and 3 and 4.   I am still just about to put my watermarks on ALL of the images  [Tedious!!] [to think I won't use all of them].  Stay posted - Got great images achin' to be seen!!

brosi gonzales