Green Journal: Ben Mbala v.3

In the third installment of his Green Journal, Green Archer Ben Mbala gives his message to the Lasallian community for this upcoming UAAP season. Mbala also shares how his three-year residency helped him grow as a person. Now that he is set to play in the UAAP in a few weeks, the Cameroonian also talks about what he thinks will be the keys to winning the men’s basketball title, one La Salle hasn’t won since Season 76.

My message to the Lasallian Community

I have to first apologize to the entire Lasallian Community for making that mistake because I knew they were all deceived. They’ve been waiting for so long.  I have to apologize to them first and I have to apologize to our ambassador, Boss Danding [Cojuangco]. You know he was also feeling down for me not playing, despite the fact they tried everything for me to play that year. I also have to apologize to the team for letting them down.

I just want the community to know, I’m here. I got their back like they always had my back for years. I know they’ve been patient, they’ve been waiting. I’ll make that wait worth it. I’ll try my best to help the team get back to the top.

How my residency helped me personally

My residency helped me because of [what I learned in] my third year. I had to sit down [an extra year]. I’m not gonna lie, I wanted to quit and just go home. To ask someone sit out three years without playing, trust me when you love the game that’s the hardest thing to ask [of someone]. I stopped practicing for around two to three months. I wasn’t going to school, I wasn’t talking to no one, I almost went through a depression, I’m not gonna lie to you.

I had the extended pressure of people being mad at me because I made a mistake. They were telling me I should leave the team and quit. Things like that. The media and everything [also]. It was hard. I’m not gonna lie. I was crying like almost every night during that time.

In the end, I had to understand that I have to go through things like that to mature. You’re a man you have to be accountable for your actions and your mistakes. I found a way to get back on track and I just left it up to God.

Keys to taking home the UAAP Championship

[To win the UAAP Championship,] we’ll need discipline, execution, and good defense. We need to play as a team, we need to put the individual [plays] aside and just play together. We got the potential and we got the skills and talent [to go all the way to finals].

But if we don’t play together, we won’t play good defense, we won’t execute our plays, and we won’t have discipline. We won’t be able to accomplish anything, but if we play like a team, it’s gonna be a walk in the park for us. We just need to stay together and apply all that I said and then we’ll be fine.