So much for the game with the hyped-up clash between brothers Jeron and Jeric Teng. It was in fact the man in the middle, Norbert Torres, who took over that game.
Green Archer Torres calmly sank a go-ahead hook shot with under a minute left in regulation to seal a hard fought 78-70 win against the boys from España.
Torres registered an impressive double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Green Archers maximized their size advantage against a Karim Abdul-less UST Growling Tigers in the 2012 FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup at the Arena in San Juan City.
Exhibiting total dominance in the glass, the Green-and-White outrebounded UST with a 52-35 slide consisting of 24 offensive rebounds.
“We outrebounded them [UST] 52 to 35, yan ang statistic na malaking difference namin. Our big men pounded it inside… leading to multiple free throw attempts, and our aggressiveness and defense limited yung perimeter scoring nila,” said DLSU Head Coach Gee Abanilla.
UST managed to trim the lead as close as six, but the Archers relied on the big men trio of Torres, Papot Paredes, and Fonzo Gotladera in pounding the paint and scoring from the line to preserve the lead in the final quarter.
Despite being heavily criticized for their lackadaisical free throw shooting, La Salle dominated the second quarter with multiple trips to the line and pounding the paint with Jeron Teng having eight free throw attempts leading to 39-30 lead at halftime.
The Taft-based squad shot an impressive 83% from the charity stripe connecting 19 attempts out of 23.
Mark Tallo hit a jumper and the Archers got their game going and ended the first quarter with a 15 knot.
UST’s Aljon Mariano started the opening quarter with three consecutive baskets, leading Coach Abanilla to immediately call for a timeout at the 7:55 mark.
Jeron Teng tallied 14 points, with 12 coming from the line, while his older brother Jeric had half his output of seven points on 29% shooting.
With a pedestrian 8% shooting from the outside, Coach Abanilla later pointed out that the Taft basketeers must also improve their perimeter and outside scoring to open up the game and to create more shot opportunities.
“Kailangan namin ng improvement sa shooting namin, sana makita namin yun sa next game dahil ngayon nahirapan kami makascore outside the paint,” he said.
Three other Archers scored in double digits, namely Papot Paredes with 12 points, and Fonzo Gotladera and Almond Vosotros with 10 apiece.
The Archers suffered a couple of injuries to Oda Tampus (foot) and Yutien Andrada (ankle), which further depleted an already short roster.
With this win, La Salle goes up 2-1 in the standings while UST suffered its third loss with a 1-3 skid.
Quarter scores: 15-15; 39-30; 59-50; 78-70
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One reply on “Torres shines as Archers pummels Tigers in Fil Oil Duel”
The Coach rightly pointed out the problem of shooting precision, dismal at 8% (FG) for this game, woeful output for a team of championship caliber and lesson ignored it seems of last season’s abject failure.
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It is a good player who takes initiatives to perfect his game, be it extra practice or some other game enhancing activity beyond official hours. A mastered skill is a personal good and redounds to the common good of the team. Confidence springs not of psychology but of mastery forged by steady work.
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Management has provided skills coaches with the view of perfecting playing skills. It is one of a series of intelligent decisions now bearing incontestable results, the most visible of which is the vast improvement shown by our big men. The same high hopes are placed for the team’s shooting skill whose crucial nature bears repeating. Expect nonetheless to be impressed further in the days ahead as team cohesion tightens.
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Time is still a friend; two months lie ahead before the games roll, enough period to iron out the kinks, but urgent enough to burn the midnight oil.