UAAP Season 74 action has been pretty up and down over its first full week. All eight teams have already seen action, and both the top and bottom halves of the early standings have seen some strange stuff. Reigning grand slam champion and Season 74 host school the Ateneo De Manila is atop the standings at 2-0 following victories over Adamson University and archrival De La Salle. 7-foot Greg Slaughter and guard Kiefer Ravena, two of the most highly toutred rookies this season, have so far led the way for the Blue Eagles. Slaughter debuted with 23 points against the veteran Falcons in an ugly 55-51 win. Ravena was a forgettable 0-1 in that opening weekend but bounced back strong by scoring 22 of his 24 points in the first half against the Green Archers in an 81-72 win over the weekend.

Joining the Ateneo on top of the leader board is Santo Tomas University. UST edged National University 73-72 in overtime to start their own season on a high note. Sharpshooting guard Jeric Fortuna led the Growling Tigers in that effort, scoring the winning basket with some 15 ticks left in the extension after nailing three critical three-pointers throughout regulation time. UST followed that up with a 70-63 victory over University of the East over the weekend. Once again it was Fortuna who lifted the Tigers as he nailed a pressure three-pointer just as the Red Warriors were threatening UST with a red hot rally. UST blew a 21-point third period lead as UE came within four points in the last minute and a half behind the drives of Paul Zamar and two treys from rookie guard Roy Sumang.

Moving to the other end of the standings, UE is joined in the winless column by La Salle. La Salle dropped their opening assignment to last season’s runners-up Far Eastern University. Reigning most valuable player Ryan Roose Garcia led the Tamaraws in the end-game to keep the Archers at bay. FEU showed its veteran wiles and toughness by going to their high-low game in the face of the tough zone defense of La Salle. UE dropped their own opening assignment to the University of the Philippines. Former Blue Eaglet star Mike Gamboa led UP with 19 points in that victory, as the Fighting Maroons snapped an 18-game losing streak going back two seasons. Ironically their last UAAP win came at the expense of the Archers back in the 2009 season.

In the middle of the pack are UP, NU, FEU and Adamson, all with identical 1-1 records. Adamson tied FEU in the standings by walloping the Tamaraws 78-59 over the weekend, as they played a morning game before the much-anticipated Ateneo-La Salle match. Coach Leo Austria went to his slow-down game to take FEU out of its customary up-tempo rhythm. FEU was so bamboozled by the deliberate pace of the game they failed to locate men on their man-zone, allowing guys like Eric Camson and Janus Lozada to get easy alley-hoop baskets on the baseline action.

Judging by the early goings it looks like another season of surprises. “Every team got stronger this season, so you cannot really say there is such a thing as a sure win for any team,” said Austria in one interview. So far that has proven to be prophetic. As the reigning champions seeking their fourth straight UAAP Title, the Ateneo was expected to be in the lead, not just early on but throughout the season. Not too many people however expected UST to be on top at any stage, especially since they have three rookies who have been getting major minutes. While Kevin Ferrer was the most recent junior division MVP, he is still a rookie. The same can be said for their import, the strong 6-foot-6 Karim Abdul, and former NCAA junior division MVP Louie Vigil, who came from the Jose Rizal Light Bombers program. As good as these guys are they are still newcomers to the league.

In the same vein, La Salle was expected to be among the early leaders as well, although their tough early schedule is a big reason for opening the season at 0-2. FEU and the Ateneo were after all in the Finals last year, and both teams have basically stayed intact. What might be galling for La Salle fans is they probably expected their boys to actually put up more of a fight than they did against the Tamaraws and the Blue Eagles. “La Salle actually got bigger this year, and LA Revilla is having a pretty good comeback, so it is understandable that there is some frustration that they are at 0-2,” said one long-time scout-recruiter. “Of course they did play the Number 1 and 2 seeds back-to-back; I expect them to bounce back since the season is only about a week old,” he added.

As good as the Ateneo looks right now, there is some cause for concern, as the Ateneo bench has been a question mark thus far. With Slaughter and Ravena joining a veteran core, the two prize rookies might actually be taking a lot of offensive opportunities from the other Blue Eagles. It might take a few more games to have both of them playing seamlessly with the rest of the team. Salva actually fed off Ravena’s energy against La Salle where he scored 18 points when Ravena tapered off in the second half. Long and Monfort also stepped up in the second half of that game.

Anything can still happen with a long season still ahead of everybody. “All it takes is for a team to get a good run sometime during the season, and maybe peak throughout the second round, just build some good momentum,” said one NCAA head coach.