SLR 94, RB 100

“So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle”.

This is one of the sayings derived from Sun Tzu's The Art of War Part III, 'Act Of Strategum'. The short version of this is simply known as “know your enemy”, which aptly described what Redbull Barakos did against the Sta. Lucia Realtors. Simply put, from the point of view of the Realtors, they did not do their assignment of scouting and adjusting their strategy to counter the Barakos onslaught on time.

Zone or Man-to-Man Defense

In the first three games of the Realtors, they were successful in applying their zone defense against their opponents. As a result, the games were usually close until the last few minutes when the Realtors fail to execute their plays. Their zone defense was also responsible for making them the number one team in terms of forcing their opponents to commit countless turnovers (25.3 tpg).

Against the Barakos, the Realtors again employed their vaunted zone defense, but this time their opponents are ready. Instead of penetrating and putting the ball at the low post, the Barakos used the shortened 3-point arc to their advantage and rendered the zone defense ineffective. The result is a whooping 40.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc for the Barakos as against the 25.0 percent for the Realtors. Despite this percentage, the Realtors continue to apply their zone defense and made no major adjustment to counter the 3-point shooting strategy of their opponents. They tried their man-to-man defense only in the fourth quarter, but it was already too late to overhaul a big lead.

Mendoza’s 3-Pt Percentage

After four games of the Realtors, it is now obvious that Paolo Mendoza’s percentage from the 3-point area is directly correlated to the chances of the Realtors in winning games. In the three losses of the Realtors, Mendoza’s percentage from beyond the arc is only 25 percent. In their lone win against the Phone Pals, Mendoza shot a respectable 40 percent.

50 Rebounds Per Game Quota

In our previous article, we mentioned that it seems clear that for the Realtors to secure a high probability of winning games, it is not so much as controlling the rebounds as it is surpassing the 50 rebounds per game limit. In their last game, the Realtors out-rebounded the Barakos 47-45. However, just like in their two previous losses, the Realtors did not pass the 50 rebounds per game mark. In their lone win against the Phone Pals, they were out-rebounded by their opponents 63-53, but they still managed to secure a win.