UAAP Season 74 basketball tournaments

UAAP Season 74
Host school	Ateneo de Manila University
Duration	September 24–October 1, 2011
Arena(s)	Smart Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVP	Nico Salva
Winning coach	Norman Black (4th title)
Semifinalists	Adamson Soaring Falcons; UST Growling Tigers
TV network(s)	ABS-CBN, The Filipino Channel, Balls, Balls HD
Duration	September 24–October 2, 2011
Arena(s)	Smart Araneta Coliseum; Filoil Flying V Arena
Finals MVP	Allana Lim
Winning coach	Michael Oliver
Semifinalists	UST Tigresses; De La Salle Lady Archers
TV network(s)	Studio 23 (Games 2 & 3)
Duration	September 24–October 2, 2011
Arena(s)	Smart Araneta Coliseum; Filoil Flying V Arena
Finals MVP	Ralph Atangan
Winning coach	Jeff Napa
Semifinalists	DLSZ Junior Archers; Ateneo Blue Eaglets
TV network(s)	Studio 23 (Games 2 & 3)

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 74 basketball tournaments are the basketball events of UAAP's 2011-12 season. Ateneo de Manila University was the season host. The season started with an Olympic-style opening ceremony on July 9, 2011 and followed by a doubleheader basketball games on July 10 at the Araneta Coliseum.

The UAAP named former Philippine Basketball League (PBL) commissioner, current Rain or Shine Elasto Painters team consultant and Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) TV commentator Andy Jao as commissioner for basketball. Jao is considering on recommending to the UAAP board on hiring referees from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).^[1]

The game schedules were changed. Instead of the usual 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. schedules, game time were moved to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. so that students can go home earlier and that basketball fans can also get to watch the PBA games which usually start at 5:30 p.m.

The eligibility of two players, Ray Parks and Greg Slaughter, were scrutinized by the UAAP Eligibility Committee. Parks of NU studied high school in the United States of America while Slaughter of Ateneo played with the Smart Gilas national team in the 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup while serving residency.^[2]^[3]

At the eligibility meeting, Parks' and Slaughter's eligibilities were questioned. Parks had already undergone a one-year residency but the committee says that he has to do a two-year residency as he studied abroad.^[4] Ateneo's Ricky Palou, also UAAP President, said that Slaughter's appearance with Smart Gilas was not an issue.^[5]

Slaughter's eligibility was cleared by the Eligibility Committee, pending approval by the UAAP Board.^[6] Meanwhile, Parks did not get a recommendation as additional documents were required by the Eligibility Committee.^[7]

NU officials issued a statement that Parks has met all eligibility requirements and should be allowed play. NU athletic director Junel Baculi mentioned exceptions to the two-year redshirt rule when a player's parents were assigned abroad due to the nature of their jobs and children whose parents are overseas Filipino workers. Parks, who was born in the Philippines and studied in a local school up to seventh grade, went abroad when his mother took a job in the US where he studied at St. George's up to the 11th grade. He returned to the Philippines with his father in the late 2000s recession.

The UAAP Board eventually cleared both Parks and Slaughter, the former after having presented additional documents.^[8]

Another decision the Board had to make was which group of referees would be selected to officiate the games. The Basketball Referees Association for Schools, Colleges and Universities (BRASCU) and the referees from the SBP were the two organizations that were being chosen by the UAAP board.^[9]

Final Four Recap

The Ateneo Blue Eagles finished on top of the elimination round standings although they were denied a 14–0 sweep by the Adamson Falcons, which clinched the #2 seed. The FEU Tamaraws faced the Falcons in the semifinals, in a series that went into two games. The Tamaraws were on their way of eliminating Adamson but the Falcons managed to cut FEU's double-digit lead but the Tamaraws held on to win. The Eagles met the UST Growling Tigers in the other semifinal series, with the Tigers reducing Ateneo's double-digit lead to a single basket but were denied in their last possession. In a rematch of the 2010 Finals where Ateneo won, the Eagles swept the Finals series 2–0 against the Tamaraws, with Nico Salva being named the Finals MVP. Ateneo won its fourth consecutive championship in Men's Basketball.

In the Juniors' tournament, the FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws clinched the #1 seed after winning 12 consecutive games; their only loss against Ateneo at their second game. The Baby Tamaraws faced the Blue Eaglets in the semifinals, where Ateneo forced a deciding game; FEU-FERN won on the second game to advance to the Finals. The De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers, which won their first eight games, lost to FEU, NU and Ateneo in the second round to finish second. They met the NU Bullpups in the semifinals, which won in the first game. The Bullpups hanged on for a three-point win to clinch a Finals berth. The Baby Tamaraws won Game 1 in overtime, but the Bullpups won their school's first juniors' basketball title since 1974 by winning the last two games. Ralph Atangan was named the Finals MVP.

Last season's runner-up FEU Lady Tamaraws finished first after the elimination round and faced the De La Salle Lady Archers in the semifinals. DLSU forced a rubber match with a three-point win but FEU scored a 22-point blowout in the second game to advance to the Finals. The UST Tigresses, which had won all first round games, were tied by Adamson and DLSU at the end of the eliminations. With DLSU emerging as the team with lowest quotient, UST and Adamson played off for the #2 seed, a game where the Lady Falcons won convincingly. The Lady Falcons had another convincing win against the Tigresses in the semifinals to arrange a Finals rematch against FEU. The Lady Falcons took Game 1 with a 4-point win, but FEU won Game 2 with a 22-point margin; FEU won the deciding game via an 11-point victory. Allana Lim was awarded Finals MVP.

Men's tournament

Elimination round

Team standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Ateneo Blue Eagles (H)	13	1	.929	—	Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
2	Adamson Soaring Falcons	10	4	.714	3	Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
3	FEU Tamaraws	9	5	.643	4	Twice-to-win in the semifinals
4	UST Growling Tigers	8	6	.571	5	Twice-to-win in the semifinals
5	NU Bulldogs	6	8	.429	7
6	De La Salle Green Archers	5	9	.357	8
7	UE Red Warriors	3	11	.214	10
8	UP Fighting Maroons	2	12	.143	11

Source: ABS-CBN Sports
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if tied for #2 or #4, one-game playoff; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head point differential; 5) overall point differential
(H) Hosts

Match-up results

	Round 1							Round 2
Team ╲ Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
AdU
ADMU
DLSU
FEU
NU
UE
UP
UST

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
= Win; = OT win; = Loss; = OT loss

Results

Team	AdU	ADMU	DLSU	FEU	NU	UE	UP	UST
Adamson		51–55	66–58	78–59	56–63	85–54	72–46	81–71
Ateneo	46–62		81–72	69–49	86–62	73–61	77–57	66–53
La Salle	66–68	62–79		65–74	74–63	87–63	79–67	74–71
FEU	62–61	67–74*	66–57		62–59	66–47	63–76	62–59
NU	53–68	39–61	56–40	82–84**		71–72	75–66	72–73*
UE	57–76	70–74	74–69	68–79	51–91		61–69	63–70
UP	51–64	58–73	72–73	53–59	43–65	54–68		49–68
UST	74–58	57–82	60–52	77–73	49–73	54–45	77–70

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Bracket

Template:4TeamBracket-RP

Semifinals

Ateneo vs. UST

Studio 23

September 15

Ateneo Blue Eagles	69–66	UST Growling Tigers
Ateneo wins series in one game

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Adamson vs. FEU

Studio 23

September 15

Adamson Soaring Falcons

49–59

FEU Tamaraws

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Studio 23

September 18

Adamson Soaring Falcons	74–78	FEU Tamaraws
FEU wins series in two games

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Finals

ABS-CBN

September 24

Ateneo Blue Eagles

82–64

FEU Tamaraws

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

ABS-CBN

October 1

Ateneo Blue Eagles	82–69	FEU Tamaraws
Ateneo wins series 2–0

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Finals Most Valuable Player: Nico Salva (Ateneo Blue Eagles)

Note: Due to typhoon Pedring, Game 2 was suspended and rescheduled to October 1, 2011.

Awards

UAAP Season 74 men's basketball champions
Ateneo Blue Eagles Seventh title, fourth consecutive title

Most Valuable Player: Bobby Ray Parks Jr. (NU Bulldogs)
Rookie of the Year: Kiefer Ravena (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
Mythical Five:
- Kiefer Ravena (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
- Greg Slaughter (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
- Bobby Ray Parks Jr. (NU Bulldogs)
- Alex Nuyles (Adamson Soaring Falcons)
- Aldrech Ramos (FEU Tamaraws)
Champ of the Season: RR Garcia (FEU Tamaraws)
Maaasahan Player of the Year: RR Garcia (FEU Tamaraws)
Most Improved Player of the Season: Jett Manuel (UP Fighting Maroons)

Coaching changes

Team	Old coach	Reason	New coach	Old position
UE	Lawrence Chongson	Expired Contract^[10]	Jerry Codinera	UP assistant coach
UP	Boyet Fernandez	Resigned^[11]	Ricky Dandan^[10]	PBA assistant coach
NU	Eric Gonzales	Returned as NU assistant coach	Eric Altamirano^[10]	RP Youth U-16 Head Coach
FEU	Glenn Capacio	Resigned^[10]	Bert Flores	FEU assistant coach/consultant^[12]