NCAA Season 98 Power Rankings Week 2: Teams make most of shortened week

The NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament had a week shortened by health and safety protocols and by weather conditions, but some teams made the most of it by bouncing back in a big way. Traditional powerhouses like Letran and San Beda and upstarts like JRU made their way up the rankings, and this Week 2 boost could be just what they needed.

1 De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Blazers | Record: 3-1 (Week 2 record: 1-1) | Last week: 1st

De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde may have taken its first loss of the season this week, but that shouldn’t take away from an impressive run the Blazers have had in Season 98 so far. They made it a three-game winning streak early in the week with an 81-64 blowout win over Perpetual before falling short against the defending champs in a competitive game, even while missing one of their best offensive weapons in Migs Oczon.

 

 

Will Gozum tallied two double-doubles in two games with a 16-point, 12-rebounds game against the Altas and a dominant 23-point, 10-rebounds performance opposite the Knights. He’s #1 in the NCAA in points per game (18.5) and Top-5 in rebounds with 9.5. And he hasn’t had to do it alone with Miggy Corteza and Oczon clocking in at 6th and 7th in the league in scoring with both chipping in close to 15 points per game.

They might not be unbeaten anymore, but they’re turning in more evidence that they might be legitimate contenders this year, and that’s enough to give them this spot for Week 2.

2 Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights | Record: 2-1 (Week 2 record: 1-0) | Last week: 5th

It might be difficult to argue that any team had a better week than Letran after it slayed the last undefeated squad in the league this week in their lone assignment. But it would have been easier to put them higher if they had more than one game this week. Unfortunately, their six-point win over Benilde was the only game they played this week, and impressive as it was, it wasn’t enough to catapult them all the way to the top of win-loss table.

 

 

Much like their first two games, the Knights found another player ready to step up with a big individual performance as Brent Paraiso torched the Blazers for 23 first half points in their head-to-head this week. Paraiso, like Kurt Reyson and Louie Sangalang in Week 1, showed that there’s plenty of talent left on this champion squad as he finished with 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting and 4-for-5 from three.

After an early slip-up in Week 1, Letran is looking like it’s ready to come after the top spot. They’ll fall short this week simply because they didn’t have enough games, but the Knights are breathing down the necks of the leaders now and they better be ready for the champs.

3 Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates | Record: 3-1 (Week 2 record: 1-0) | Last week: 3rd

Another team that only played one game this week, LPU climbed up into a tie for #1 in the standings this week after their third win in four games. It’s been a terrific start for the Pirates, who are proving that they have plenty of depth this season.

Their second-year duo of Ato Barba and Mclaude Guadaña are both averaging double figures to lead the team, as is new recruit Gyle Montaño. Last season’s standout, Enoch Valdez, is not far behind with 9.25 points per game. Against EAC, it was Alvin Peñafiel who came out and showed what he could do, tallying a team-high 12 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting.

 

 

But despite the impressive start for them so far, it maybe wasn’t the best sign for LPU that they allowed EAC to stick around in their lone game this week, especially after the Generals got blown out by the likes of San Beda and JRU last week. You don’t want to be the team that struggling opponents get their rhythm against, but at least the Pirates came away with the win, and a good place in these rankings.

4 and 5 (tied)
Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers | Record: 2-2 (Week 2 record: 1-0) | Last week: 8th
Arellano University Chiefs | Record: 3-2 (Week 2 record: 0-1) | Last week: 2nd

JRU and Arellano only had one game last week, and it was a close game against each other that the Heavy Bombers escaped, 70-67, thanks to a big-time shot from Ry Dela Rosa in the endgame. That clutch play aside, it was a 50-50 game that could have gone either way depending on how the ball bounces. So credit to JRU for the big win, but it feels right to have these two ranked beside each other for this week.

The Bombers are an intriguing team because when they’re playing well, it seems like they can hang with just about anybody, as they showed against the Knights last week and the previously 3-1 Chiefs. Agem Miranda has been solid as a volume shooting shotmaker while rookie William Sy has been a revelation beside him. That’s allowed JL Delos Santos to slip into a more all-around role as he’s averaged 5.25 rebounds and 4.25 assists to go with his 7.75 points per game. Jason Celis and Dela Rosa haven’t shot the ball particularly well lately, but can come up with the big plays when their number is called upon.

 

 

The Chiefs, meanwhile, will stumble this week after their fourth quarter collapse in this game, but are still in pretty good shape in general. Axel Doromal has emerged as a big-time scorer this season, ranking 2nd in the NCAA behind Benilde’s Gozum with 17 points per game. Cade Flores has been consistent and reliable with his 11 points and 11 rebounds (3rd in the league) per game. Shane Menina is norming close to double figures as well, though some improved shooting efficiency (currently shooting 23.8-percent from the field) could be what Arellano needs to kick its offense up a notch.

Both teams have looked good in stretches here in Season 98, but this is a long season, and there’s a lot of work to be done before either can actually prove their claim to be contenders.

6 San Beda University Red Lions | Record: 2-2 (Week 2 record: 1-0) | Last week 9th

After a rough first week, San Beda picked up a quality win in Week 2, putting San Sebastian away in a 78-71 win. They're another team that might’ve made a bigger dent in these power rankings if they had more games, but climbing up three spots should be a welcome development for them this season.

James Kwekuteye continues to be terrific as he ranks third in the NCAA in scoring with 16.25 ppg and leads the league in three-pointers made with 2.5 per game. He’s also #1 in plus-minus, the stat that tracks by how many points a team outscores their opponent when that particular player is on the floor. Despite his team being 2-2, Kwekuteye is somehow a +62 overall in four games, which is about a +15.5 per game. Against the Stags this week, his Red Lions were +18 when he was on the floor in a game they only won by seven.

 

 

But as has been the case for San Beda this season, it’s about consistency. In this San Sebastian game, the Red Lions had vastly different performances in the first period, which they won 30-11, and the second quarter, where they were outscored 25-16.

But really, it’s only been a few weeks into the Coach Yuri Escueta era, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge this team this early. As Robert Bolick said this week, for San Beda, it’s always “championship or bust” anyway, so this team will be defined by how they end the season, not how they start it.

7 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas | Record: 2-2 (Week 2 record: 1-1) | Last week: 6th

Perpetual is currently sitting at 2-2 so it isn’t like they’ve been struggling this season. But their Final Four run in Season 97 has set lofty expectations for this team and it’ll take a lot to live up to that. Take this week, where they lost by 17 to league-leading Benilde then edged Mapua, a finalist the previous season but one that has struggled so far in this one, in a tight two-point affair.

 

 

That’s not cause for too much panic this early in this season, but you would have liked to see them more competitive against the Blazers given that this team has eyes on another post-season campaign. Kim Aurin, tied for 3rd in the league in scoring this season, is going to do his best to drag them there, but he needs help, particularly from the likes of Jielo Razon, who went for just two points on 0-for-6 field goal shooting in the Benilde loss before bouncing back with 15 points against Mapua. They also had incredibly efficient games from John Abis and Mark Denver Omega, who combined for 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting against the Cardinals with Abis in throwing in a game-winner there.

It needs to be all hands on deck for the Altas if they want to replicate their Season 97 success, and this unit does look like it has the tools, especially if guys like Razon can recapture their old form soon.

8 San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags | Record: 2-2 (Week 1 record: 0-1) | Last week: 4th

San Sebastian is lucky that Romel Calahat has done a lot to make up for the loss of JM Calma, with the former emerging as a double-double machine in his own right (with averages of 13.67 points and 10.67 rebounds per game), but the Stags need more than just Calahat to take a leap forward if they want to climb back into contention.

 

 

Despite losing this week, the positive there is the performances of guys like Jessie Sumoda (19 points and six rebounds) and Rhinwill Yambing (13 points in 15 minutes of play) against San Beda. Calahat struggled in that one, shooting just 1-of-6, but he needs the other guys to come fill in his old role while he’s busy trying to make up for Calma’s.

9 Mapua University Cardinals | Record: 1-3 (Week 2 record: 0-1) | Last week: 7th

Another rough week for Mapua, which is just having a nightmare start to their season. It’s only one loss this week, but this heartbreaker had to hurt, given just how winnable this one was. That makes three straight losses for the Cardinals, who probably didn’t expect to find themselves this low in the standings after their opening day win over San Beda.

Last season, they were last in rebounds and points in the paint, but made up for it by being the best three-point shooting team (in terms of percentage) and had the most perimeter points of any team. This year, they’re still last in points in the paint, but they’re outside shooting has been nowhere near good enough to bail them out.

 

 

Still, it’s easy to give this team some benefit of the doubt after proving themselves last year. This team is capable of getting it together. But the Cardinals can’t be too happy with how things have gone so far.

10 Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals | Record: 0-4 (Week 2 record: 0-1) | Last week: 10th

EAC, which had been on the wrong end of a couple of lopsided games last week, should be happier with how they competed in their lone assignment this week. Unfortunately for the Season 98 hosts, it still didn’t result in a victory.

While guys like Allen Liwag and Nat Cosejo continue to do well, something just isn’t clicking with their perimeter guys like Ralph Robin and King Gurtiza, who combined to shoot 2-for-14 from the field and 0-for-6 from three against LPU.

 

 

The good news is, the Pirates look like a quality team, at least this early in the season, and if the Generals can battle to stay in games like that one, then they could put themselves in position to win some of them as well. But there’s a lot of work to do, and they need to keep the effort up against every opponent if they want to remain competitive.

—JMB, GMA News

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