My Thoughts on La Salle Basketball

I’ve been unable to post something for quite a while now.  A lot has happened in the sportng world, but this time of the year, my interest is inclined towards college basketball specifically UAAP.  And in the past couple of weeks, a lot has happened in the league, specifically to DLSU Green Archers and i’ll try to write something about a handful of things in relation to La Salle basketball.

Beatdown from Ateneo

The game against our bitter rivals ended with a 10 point margin by the defending champs, the Blue Eagles.  La Salle might have had a fighting chance to steal that game had they played well during the first period.  We dug ourselves a 16 point hole in the first period and it proved too much for our squad to erase the deficit.  That’s a tough loss especially it was against Ateneo, but for me personally, I wasn’t really expecting La Salle to win.  I mean, of course I wanted La Salle to win, but realistically speaking, if we’re going to win against Ateneo, that’s gonna be a tough game.  As bitter as it  may taste, La Salle needs to swallow that bitter loss and learn from it.  Maturity and composure are two very important part of the game and that’s what we need.  We have the talent and skills, we just have to be more mentally prepared to battle it out, most especially against the Blue Eagles because I’m pretty sure that it carries more pressure to face your archrivals.

The Return of Almond Vosotros

Back in the first round, La Salle’s offense was heavily anchored on Jeron Teng.  Come second round, i’ve noticed that the defense of opposing teams has clamped down on Teng.  He still gets his usual points, though he’d usually shoot volumes on the floor just to convert points.  Norbert Torres’ game was also well scouted at the second round.  He’s struggling offensively for quite some time now (save for the double double performance against Adamson), and with Teng needing to bleed for his points and LA Revilla still out due to an ankle injury, who do we turn to for that much needed offensive contribution? That’s where Almond Vosotros comes in.  Coming out just like that it just so perferct in terms of timing.  Even with Revilla injured, Teng doesn’t need to exhaust himself just to put up points in the scoreboard.  Vostoros can readily pour in points whenever needed.  He can shoot the 3, he can drive and he can pass.  Now that the opponents know that this guy can score, the defense on Teng would probably relax a little bit and this will help him choose his shots wisely without having to force it.

The (Questionable) Officiating Against the Dog Pack

The game against NU Bulldogs really got me thinking about the way the referees officiated the game.  The number of fouls (and free throws) awarded to NU was just unacceptable.  The disparity was just too much to ignore.  Can you imagine Ray Parks having more free throw attempts than the entire La Salle squad?  That was just so wrong.  I’m not trying to discredit NU’s win, but the officiating that day really sucked.  I hope it never happens again to any team in the league.

2 Straight Wins to End the Elminations

To end the elimination round and have one final push before the Final 4,the Archers made sure to win their final 2 games by defeating the FEU Tamaraws and Adamson Falcons.  With those 2 wins, we ended the eliminations with a 9-5 record.  It’s good enough for a the fourth and final slot but since nothing comes by easy these days, we’ll have to wait out the result of the replay of FEU vs NU tomorrow.  The situations/scenarios leading to the Final 4 is just too complicated to explain and I would’nt dare to write about and just end up confusing the readers and myself.  The simplest option that all La Sallians should hope for is for FEU to win so that we can secure the fourth slot and get another chance to face the Ateneo in the Final 4.  Facing an Ateneo squad with a twice-to-beat advantage is a daunting task, be we Archers are not known to back down from a dog fight.  Win or lose it’s still ANIMO.  Let’s all hope for the best as we (hopefully) enter the Final 4 this season.

keep it green.

-fouledout

Teng Hits Game Winner for the Green Archers

Rookie sensation Jeron Teng seemingly hit the rookie wall earlier today when he was uncharacteristically missing his shots. UST’s pesky defense hounded Teng the entire game, but he only needed the final 3 seconds of the game to make his presence felt.  With 3 ticks left on the clock and the game tied at 51, Teng drove to the basket and made a jumper that finally put away the Tigers 53-51.  He finished the game with 9 points, which was below his average, but in the end, it was he who made the most important basket of the game.

The match up earlier was as exciting as their meeting in round 1, but this time, La Salle made sure to emerge as winners.  With LA Revilla and Yutien Andrada still out of commission, the Archers relied on teamwork to get the win.  La Salle’s offense earlier featured a lot of crafty passing but UST did a good job of cutting the passing lanes and converting the steals into points.  Almond Vosotros once again had a good game and led La Salle with 12 markers, all coming from beyond the arc.  Rookie guard Thomas Torres also showcased moments of brilliance especially when he took the ball away from Jeric Teng with less than a minute to play and converted the free throws after getting fouled. He finished with 10 points.  Jovet Mendoza’s hardwork and willingness to sacrifice his own body was admirable as it showed a lot of heart and passion.

Another good thing that I’ve noticed in the game was La Salle’s free throw shooting.  Though I’m not sure about the exact statistic, I’m pretty sure that they’ve converted from the line a lot better compared before.  Now that they can convert their free throw shots, opposing teams will now think twice before sending out players to the charity stripe.

The Green Archers will face the Blue Eagles this coming weekend and I won’t be able to attend the game live.  I’ll just try to watch the game on TV.  I’m looking forward to another great game from the Archers and hopefully this time, La Salle would come out on top.

La Salle Routs UE

La Salle started the second round with a big win over UE Red Warriors. The Archers crushed the Warriors 73-52 at the end of the regulation.

I arrived at MOA Arena a bit late and when I finally found the my seat, I scanned the court and realized that LA Revilla and Yutien Andrada were out of the court.  I thought they were on the bench and when I checked out the bench, they weren’t there either.  Both of them were seated a couple of rows away from the La Salle bench.  To be quite honest, I was a bit worried when I saw them not wearing their uniforms.  When I watched the game, I got more worried when I saw the players out of sync.  They were sloppy on the court and they were obviously our of rhythm.  But then I observed that Arnold Van Opstal and Jovet Mendoza playing quality minutes on the floor.  Mendoza, though he wasn’t scoring heavily, was doing everything pretty well.  AVO on the other hand filled in quite well for Norbert Torres.  With Andrada out of commission, AVO had to work double time and it turned out pretty well for him.  He finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds and a thunderous dunk in the second half.  My anxiety turned to relief when La Salle started to distance themselves from UE in the second half.

Coach Gee Abanilla did pretty well on the rotation of players.  Two of La Salle’s starters, were out of commision and he was able to rotate and maximize the players at his disposal.  Kudos to the Archers as well since they were made sure that whatever minutes they logged, it was beneficial to the team.

Next up for La Salle is UST who’s also coming from an OT win against Bulldogs today.  With both La Salle and UST coming off big wins today, I expect no less than a war on Wednesday.  I hope I can get tickets for the game on Wednesday.

Keep it green. ANIMO!

-fouledout