The Black Mamba

July 13, Wednesday

As far as Kobe's visit last week is concerned all I can say is that I'm just glad to have had the chance to photograph the man.

At the Peninsula.

At Barangay Pakisama in Taguig.

At the Fort.

 

At the Araneta.



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Winning Time

UP vs UE --- July 14, Thursday, Araneta

Mike Gamboa --- Full Throttle

 Mike Silungan --- Always a marked.

Manuel --- You the man.

Victorious.

Scoring by Quarters:
                             Qt1         Qt2         Qt3         Qt4
UP                          22          17         18         12           =69
UE                          11          20         16         14           =61

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UST's Fortune Cookie

 

Fortune Cookie.

Posting a 42.9% field goal clip during regulation and [3  out of 4  ---

75% in overtime !], Jeric Fortuna was hands down the MVP in the UST OT Win over NU last July 14, Thursday.

Panis.

After the W Chris Camus asked me not to post the block by Mbe on him.

But hey, Chris, my pal, you played a great all around game -- You scored the first 2 or 3 baskets for your team, You had a couple of crucial steals 

[I particularly remember one interception against a careless Emmanuel Mbe sometime during the 4th Quarter], You scored in double figures, and you grabbed 10 boards !

Star Rookie vs Star Rookie.

Kevin vs Bobby.

Cat vs Dog.

Tiger vs Bulldog.

With the clock winding down in OT, Parks took a medium J for the win --

It missed.

Ferrer got the last rebound [he got 11] of the game and it was all but over.

Great Game Jeric !!!

Scoring by Quarters:

                           Qt1         Qt2          Qt3          Qt4          OT

UST                      17          14           13           21          8    =73

NU                       14           19          11           21          7     =72

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Coulda', Woulda', Shoulda'

Ateneo vs Adamson --- July 10, Sunday, Araneta

 Costly Error.

Alvarez grimaces in frustration as the Eagles take advantage of a fumbled pass.

With around 20 seconds or so left and Ateneo leading by only two points [53-51] Adamson had a golden opportunity to force an overtime. In the ensuing offensive play Alvarez passed to team mate Cabrera.  Roeder bobbled the ball and the Eagles took advantage and regained possesion  Adamson fouled Monfort as a last resort: Eman calmly sank both charities for the final 55-51 count.

Greg Slaughter shot 64.3% from the field but missed half of the 10 charities awarded him.  As a team, Ateneo missed 9 of 27 free throws while Adamson converted all 11 foul throws given them.

The Usual Suspects.

Nico Salva contorts.

Crunch Time.

With the score tied at 51 Kirk Long extends.

John Brondial was just a micro second too late when he deflected the ball; 

It had already bounced of the glass and was on the way down.

This goal tend pushed Ateneo up 53-51.

The Blue Eagles had 10 less attempts [54] than the Fighting Falcons [64] but had a higher field goal percentage [33% to Adamson's 26%]. 

  

The scoring by quarters is as follows:

               Qt1               Qt2              Qt3               QT4

ADM         16               17               10              12            =55

ADU         12               15               17               7             =51

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First Blood

 

First Blood.

The 'Comeback Kid" LA Revilla, scored the first 2 field goals [a drive and a three] for the Archers as the UAAP Season 74 Basketball Season Wars commenced last Sunday, July 10.   Revilla top-scored for DLS [18 pts.] and stayed the longest on the floor [30 minutes].

All out.

Revilla was all over the place.

It was tied at 18 at the end of the First Quarter but in the next three the Tams outscored the Archers.  Atkins and Vosotros were off [Simon scored only 1 field goal while Almond missed all his 6 attempts].  Garcia, Ramos, and Cawaling all had double figures. The Archers' scoring was slightly more balanced and they had 50 rebounds to the Tams 42 but in the field goal percentage department FEU managed 39% as compared to DLSU's 29%.

Veteran vs Rookie

Aldrich challenges Arnold.

Romeo from down under.

 RR Garcia uncontested.
Courtesy of a Ramos assist pass.

All in all, the Tamaraws proved steadier and more resilient than the Green Archers in the long haul.  Veteranship and Finals experience have made FEU  a formidable foe.

 Scoring by Quarters:

                                   QT1               Qt2               Qt3                Qt4

FEU                         18               17               17               22      

DLS                         18               15               12               20         

 

Final Score: Tamaraws---74   Green Archers---65

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Puso, Kaluluwa, at Mga Bola

Was at the Conservatory [Manila Peninsula] for the Kobe Press Con.
Was at Barangay Pakisama, Taguig, where Kobe  played with some  kids.
Was at High Street, the Fort, where Kobe answered a few Qs, met up with some kids again, then gave away a couple of autographed Nike basketballs.
Was at the Araneta Coliseium, where Kobe teamed up with some UAAP All-Stars in a 20 minute exhibition game vs the Smart Gilas Team.

Now, have a ton of JPEGs of the Black Mamba.  Of course I'm eager to post them BUT I'll postpone that in the meantime.  A few UAAP entries will come out first, then a few Azkals vs Brave Reds pics [July 3 match].  And even before those are these three OLD, behind-the-scenes photos.

DLSU Lady Archers

One for the Road.

This was taken after a FEU-UST Finals match at Ateneo after the DLSU girls claimed a few UAAP Season 73 awards.  Their next visit to the Ateneo after this would then be on Season 74.

U.P. Fighting Maroons

. . .And another one . . .

Taken on the same afternoon as the  DLSU photo.

Just before hopping into their cars, these footballers from Diliman,

gave me a few seconds of their time.

TJ Manotoc, Henry Atayde, Rick Olivares, Boyet Sison

Rarin' to Go

I snapped this one at the Panaad Press Room about an hour before the

Azkals-Mongolia match [we won that 2-nil], last Feb.9.

Irrelevant, stale images ??  Certainly not. What might seem generic snapshots are actually nice photos with a lot of Heart, lottsa Soul, Balls, and "Libog".  These pics belong to my Favorite Photos Folder.  

"Fire in the Belly", "In Your Face", "In the Moment", "Sucking it Up", "Chutzpah", "Panalo!!!" -- there are many words that come to mind when I look at these.  FUN moments, fleeting as some of them are -- but blogworthy enough for me - I simply had to post them sooner or later [even though they're old pics].

Rick Olivares, JC Intal, Bianca Gonzalez, Boom Gonzalez

Parting Shot

This was literally the LAST photo I took yesterday night after the Kobe Bryant event at the Araneta.  A few moments after this I packed up and went home.

Yeah !! My kind of Snapshot !

Though it would be unrealistic for me to expect ALL my impromptu-on-the-spot group shots to be like this all the time,  once I sense that "something" is there, that vibe in the people I am about to shoot -- I just throw in a few words, do a few gestures -- and if the subjects have "it" or are "in the moment" it just happens.  A collective growl, smile, stance, even a dirty finger, a Kung fu pose, a "come and get it" or "take me, I'm ready" or a "showdown" pose -- or whatever -- like I said, it just happens -- then I just have to be quick and sharp  --  cause there are no retakes - It's either I get it or not. 

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I'm Actually Glad It Rained

July 9, would the FIRST time ever for me to actually watch [and photograph] the UAAP Opening Day Ceremonies.  This time, though, 'twas going to be a risky one.  Rain was the only thing on the menu.  Host Ateneo, as Mr. Palou mentioned  at the July 4 UAAP Press Con,  would be prepared none the less.

That rainy first half experience at the Azkals win a week previous was still fresh on my mind on that Friday evening, July 8, I just couldn't help but feel frustrated, knowing that more likely than not, the opening would be a wet, wet, wet one.  Well, just have to deal with it - I thought. 

In hindsight, now, looking back now on Saturday [Even though I lost A WHOLE LOT of potentially Good Images due to a technical oversight - Bad Trip, Bad Day at the Office] - I am somehow weirdly thankful it rained.

Rain & Mud put a totally different dynamic [drama] to the UAAP Opening Day Ceremonies.  The more difficult the shooting conditions were the more one had to adjust [quicker], and to be more resourceful.  The Unexpected can make one a better photographer - That's what I say - if one Learns from it, that is.

BUT, enough of that.  It's over and done with at this point.  Those who attended will probably remember the event for different reasons.  Maybe some dancers will remember the "fun" of doing their routine  under the rain, with mud on their feet, some organizers might never forget many anxious moments, maybe one or two photographers will regret not having prepared for the rain, some might have even regretted attending in the first place -- who knows.
Everyone of us will have their OWN favorite and not so favorite moments from that afternoon, [Fortunately, as a photographer, I get a chance to capture the moments I like {and then some}] Well, point is -- different strokes for different folks.

Now, if it's down to my four favorite photos, er, I mean moments - They would be: a shot of some UST UAAP Basketball jocks passing in front of me, a shot of some Lady Eagle UAAP Volleybelles with their light blue umbrellas, a shot of the Ateneo Choir singing and some cadets holding a huge Filipino flag, with the image of Jose Rizal on a big screen serving as a backdrop, and snap of Bianca Gonzalez. [Who knows, one of these days I'll get to meet her, and make on-the-spot portaits] 


All in all, Saturday was real stretch for me because of the weather but in some weird way I'm glad that it rained.

 UST Growling Tigers Melo, Kevin & Jeric

V-League Champs Fille, Alyssa, Gem, Natasha, Carol, Gretchen & Denise.

 The Immortal Atenean, Jose Rizal.

Bianca Gonzalez --- True Hues of Blue.

 Greg Slaughter -- Leading the way Fourward.

 Sponge Cola -- "Soaking" it all up.

A "drizzling" routine no less.

 

 July 9, 2011 --  Fire and Rain.

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