The Road to Championship (part 4)

With the on going Ateneo - La Salle game, the Ateneo covered courts was dead silent and with the default of most of the IAC games, the attention was on one game on the court, the game was NY Noks versus Moro Boys. Coming fresh from a come from behind win over team Pasas, the Moro 5 exploded in the 1st quarter getting a 6 - 0 run in the opening minutes of the game and ending the 1st quarter with a 10 point lead. The Noks team made a run in the second and 3rd quarter cutting the lead into 3 points going into the final quarter. The NY Noks took the lead in the final quarter with the defensive pressures of Roy Rollan and Miko Sabado and with steal after steal with the full court press of the Noks, team Moro never recovered and faltered in the end with a 41 - 38 score. Miko Sabado iced the game with his free throw and JP Pangilinan hit back to back triples to take the lead for good. MVP candidate Lester Magno led all scorers with 17 points while JP Pangilinan led his team with 15 points. Miko Sabado said after the game "inunderestimate namin yung kalaban, akala namin tambakan na toh, pero they gave us quite a scare in the game".

The Road to Championship (part 3)

Coming from a heart breaking loss from Team Nutballs, the New York Noks came back with a vengeance against Team MAC with a heart pounding win 31 - 28. JP Pangilinan led all scorers with 13 points, 3 rebounts, 1 assist and 6 steals while his counterpart Rod Coronel stacked up the stat sheet with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 7 steals and 2 blocks and Raffy Taruc led his team with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals. JP Pangilinan started the game with his hot shooting both from the 3 point arc and inside the paint and Rod Coronel did his job with picking up the trash and converting it into points. Team MAC had a big margin in the 2nd quarter with back to back 3 pointers from Raffy Taruc but NY Noks came back with their staggering defense and their tight full court press converting steals and turnovers into points to catch up in the final quarter and taking the lead and never looking back. The full court press was led by defensive specialist Roy Rollan (V BS ECE) who iced the game with his free throw in the final 10 seconds and contributing 3 steals and 5 rebounds for the Nokkers. Roy Rollan said "maganda ang defense natin kaya tayo nanalo, sa next game ganitong strategy ulit". This was a come from behind win for the NY Noks which trailed Team MAC the whole game but overtaking Team MAc and the deciding quarter. With the win, NY Noks moves to 3rd place in the division standing with a 2 - 1 slate tied with Team El Grande while Team MAC drops to 4th with a 2 - 2 record.

A Walk Down Memory Lane...

As the 1st semestral of the school year 2005 - 2006 came to a close, it suddenly hit me that now I have to face the realities of life. It had been a struggle to finish college but it was one of the most memorable years of my life. Coming from DLSU and ADMU communities in college gave me the best times of my life and gave me the most challenges and turning points a student would face. Entering DLSU was very exciting for me... going into my dream school and having the hardest course was certainly a big plus. I had friends that I wouldn't forget and my high school barkada was nearby in other courses in DLSU and some in CSB, it would certainly be a blast and who would forget my wonderful blockmates who accepted me and helped me whenever I needed them and the sweetest inspiration entering college was my girlfriend koky. Memories in DLSU were a plenty like being a absent everytime but still getting the highest score for Trigsol and the ENGTER Block which had me compared to Dindo Pumaren of the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs. One of the best part was winning 3rd place against 60 DLSU students including UAAP players in the 3 point shoot out. Memories of conquering the billiards table against friends and unknown opponents and the precision billiard's skill of Alexei and yours truly. There was also the 3 on 3 PE basketball tournament which Alexei and I dominated. Being the model of every move in basketball for PE and getting an A in basketball and loving it. But when I got german measles, I failed almost all my subjects which pitted me to transfer in ADMU. Who would know that my second life in college would equally match and surpass the memories held in DLSU.

ADMU was pretty much similar with DLSU but with a twist, students in ADMU were more of grade concious persons and I thought this would be a lonely school for me. Making friends in ADMU on my 1st year was a bit hard for I was quiet and an introvert. I stayed in the library most of the time and slept there and sometimes studied. Then I met my ECE friends batch 2000 and 2001 and thats when things changed. Joining the IAC with the Choopuppies and AECES2 was a blast and making an AECES inter batch tournament was a great one thanks to Martin. Being recruited by the YFC basketball team against other schools was memorable being the star point guard. Winning best in boad 2 in inter batch chess in 2004. Making another IAC team with Choopuppies Reloaded and AECES. Joining the IECEP basketball tournament to represent Ateneo and defeating the defending champs TIP QC. Getting win after win with the new and improved Choopuppies with the NY Noks and joining the 3 on 3 tournament with Miko, Rod and Nok. Getting an A in PE basketball once again. And the best memories with friends in the ECE community. For in every hardships, troubles, almost getting kicked out they were always there and being supportive with me. And the dynamic duo of Miko and I both in basketball and in chess.

This day has been a day of reminiscing. As I went home with my best friend Tiki, we passed by the Mayuga village and went to the basketball court were everything started. This was the first whole court basketball we played in and we were that damn good. My first top board and were I gained confidence as a basketball player. There were bad games and a whole lot of good games which gave me respect both in basketball and in personality. My day ended by shooting in the court were it all started and playing 21 with my best friend Tiki. Its just so hard to believe that school has ended and childhood has passed by. Now I'm going to enter a new chapter in my life. Thank you for the wonderful childhood and college memories!!!

The Road to Championship (part 2)

With the big win of the New York Noks, the team is now on a roll, winning 2 of their last 3 games dating back from last season. The next opponent for the NY Noks is the championship favorite Team Nutballs. Without the team Nutballs leading scorer Ralph Tagalog, the NY Noks took advantage of the 1st quarter with a 3 pointer from Jopoy Pandaraoan (V BS CS) and a quick up and under move from JP Pangilinan (V BS ECE). The Dormer's 5 came back and took the lead with Karl Pulma (III BS ECE) leading the way and pitting Rod Coronel (V BS ECE) in foul trouble. With the physical play of team Nutballs, the Dormer's took advantage of every rebound from the inside the paint to have a commanding 12 point lead to end the 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter the NY Noks made a 7 - 0 run with 3 minutes remaining with a 3 pointer from Raffy Zuniga (V BS ECE), and quick lay ins from Rod Coronel and JP Pangilinan to cut the lead into 5. But Karl Pulma took over and posted up with power and Aldwill Go sinking the important free throws the Dormers took the game away from the NY Noks. Aldwill Go lead all scorers for the Nutballs while Rod Coronel lead the Noks with 9 points while JP Pangilinan and Miko Sabado chipped in 7 and 4 points for the losing cause.

The Road to Championship (part 1)

This was the last season of the New York Noks formerly known as Choopuppies together as a team in the IAC. With new recruits Roy Rollan (V BS ECE), Pitt Santiago (V BS ECE) and Jopoy Pandaraoan (V BS CS), the New York Noks is expecting nothing less than a championship in the Seniors C division. With favorites Team Nutballs and Bearwolves in the same division, the New York Noks were in for a tough battle through out the 2005 - 2006 season.

The first game of New York Noks were up against Team Pasas being led by Stephen Cate (IV BS ECE). In the first quarter, the Noks started out strong with a 3 pointer from Jopoy Pandaraoan and quick scoring of JP Pangilinan (V BS ECE) and Rod Coronel (V BS ECE). Stephen Cate of team Pasas kept the game close ending the first quarter with the Noks leading by 5. The second quarter was a lop sided quarter with JP Pangilinan doing the damage with back to back triples to keep team Pasas at bay with an 8 point lead to end the half. The third quarter proved to be different one for the New York Noks as the Pasas bench came back with 3 triples to end the quarter and cut the lead into two going into the final quarter. The final quarter proved to be closed until the end, with Stephen Cate continuing his scoring and rebounding evry ball that came his way but Rod Coronel came up with key rebounds and JP Pangilinan drove to the basket with the score tied and scored plus one to give the Noks a 3 point lead. Rod Coronel made a stunning defensive play with 30 seconds to go and Miko Sabdao held on to the ball and sank the crucial 2 free throws to win the game for NY Noks. JP Pangilinan led all scorers with 16 points 4 rebounds 4 steals and 1 assist, Rod Coronel added 8 points 10 rebounds and 2 steals, Jopoy Pandaraoan paced the team with 5 points and 3 rebounds and Miko Sabado was his usual self with 2 points 5 rebounds 3 assists 2 steals and 1 block while Stephen Cate did everything for his team with 11 points 2 rebounds and 1 block. JP Pangilinan said "masya ako kase we started the season with a winning note" Rod Coronel said "tuloy tuloy na ito, kaya namin magchampion".