While many of the Lasallian faithful are already looking forward to Sunday’s game against archrivals ADMU Blue Eagles, the Green Archers will have to go through one more hurdle first as they face the UE Red Warriors tomorrow, 4 pm, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the Derrick Pumaren coached squad still winless at this point of the season, look for them to pull out all the stops as they try to deter La Salle’s road to back-to-back championships and earn their first win of the season. Aldin Ayo, on the other hand, will look to make sure his team continues to build off its performance against UST last Saturday, as they get ready for the big game against Ateneo.
Season 79 meetings
The two teams last met on October 26, 2016, wherein the Green-and-White completely overmatched the Red Warriors, 95-66, for their eleventh straight victory of Season 79. In the game, Ben Mbala was just someone UE could not contain as he exploded for 26 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks in the winning effort.
In their first round encounter, however, the Red Warriors proved to be a gritty opponent for the undefeated Green Archers. While La Salle led by as many as 18 points, the physicality of UE’s players disrupted the DLSU offense in the second half, and made the game interesting, losing only 74-68.
All in all, though, the Green Archers’ main advantage over the Red Warriors was their relentlessness on the boards. In their second round match-up, DLSU outrebounded UE, 71-34, with 34 of those coming on the offensive end, which were converted into 30 second chance points.
Keys to victory
While the Red Warriors sit tied with UST at the bottom of the standings, the key to victory for La Salle is to stay focused at the task at hand, and not to look ahead to Sunday. UE is still a team that needs to be game planned for and respected, as a team that pressures as much as them will need to be scouted to ensure a cleanly played game.
La Salle will also need to keep its composure in this game as UE is a team that plays a physical brand of basketball and fouls a lot, evident in the 56 fouls between the two teams in their first round match-up last year. That was a game that featured multiple ejections, including the infamous act by Ayo in which he tried to put glasses on a referee.
In their last game, a 115-86 win over the UST Growling Tigers, Mbala again led DLSU but the team was able to get contributions from all over the roster. Andrei Caracut, Santi Santillian, and Prince Rivero scored 14, 13, and 11 points, respectively, to help Mbala in the offensive attack.
For the Green Archers to win, they will need to take advantage of their depth and their strengths in the rebounding category. UE, this year, is the only team in the UAAP without an import so Mbala should have himself another monster game as he should have the advantage over Wilson Bartolome. Also, players in DLSU’s second unit should be able to take advantage of the thinness of UE’s rotation, as guys like Prince Rivero and Abu Tratter have the experience to dominate for the Lasallians.
Facing the AdU Soaring Falcons in their previous game, UE was unable to do much against Adamson, losing 79-60. In the game, all of the Red Warriors’ weaknesses came to light as they shot just 31 percent from the field and were outrebounded by 14, 50-36, by Papi Sarr and the Falcons.
If the Red Warriors want to win, or even keep the game close, they will need to play close to perfect full court pressure to force multiple DLSU errors. Along with this, Pumaren will need one of his players to have an offensive explosion, as guys like Alvin Pasaol, Philip Manalang, and Clark Derige, who are all relied on for scoring, have all had inconsistent starts to the season.
The Green Archers will be going for their fifth win of Season 80 as they face the Red Warriors on October 4, 4 pm, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
