Coming off a win against the FEU Tamaraws, the DLSU Green Archers hope to continue their winning momentum in their game against the UP Fighting Maroons. La Salle will attempt to avenge its first round loss to the Maroons, wherein the latter’s hot shooting led them to victory.
DLSU continues to fight for the league’s top spot, even if ADMU continues to rack up wins in a so far undefeated season. UP, on the other hand, hopes to continue its push for a spot in the final four, as it is neck and neck with FEU for the final spot.
First round meeting
The two teams played last September 23, in a game where UP defeated DLSU, 98-87. Paul Desiderio was the man of the hour for the Maroons as he carried the load on offense, finishing with 30 points. Additionally, point guard Jun Manzo recorded 17 points in the victory. For DLSU, Ben Mbala had 34 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
While La Salle played a decent game, the sizzling three-point shooting of UP on that day proved to be too much to overcome for the Green Archers. 16 three-pointers made by the Maroons tied a UAAP record for the most in game. DLSU led after the first quarter of that game, 27-18, but UP never stopped pushing and an offensive explosion in the fourth quarter, by a myriad of UP players, ballooned the Katipunan-based squad’s lead to one that was insurmountable for the Green Archers.
Keys to the game
Since these two teams last met, each has been trending in opposite directions. While La Salle has maintained its spot near the top of the standings, UP faltered towards the end of the first round and has won just one against the UST Growling Tigers last Wednesday.
Aljun Melecio remains a question mark for the Green Archers as he continues to recover from an illness. There is a chance, though, that the reigning Rookie of the Year is cleared to play for today’s game. A returning Melecio should provide a nice spark for the Lasallians.
For the Green Archers to win, they will need to greatly improve their perimeter defense. Against UP, none of the guards put in by Coach Aldin Ayo were able to contain and stop any dribble penetration by multiple Maroons. DLSU’s backcourt will need to be able to do a better job of staying in front of their man as UP’s driving ability forced the La Salle defense to collapse way too often, which gave players like Desiderio and Juan Gomez de Liano wide-open shots from distance.
While still not at the level it was at last year, DLSU’s “Mayhem” defense has been improving over the last few games. In its last game, the team limited FEU to just 73 points, which is a good sign for La Salle, that is last in the league in points allowed. Recently, Ricci Rivero has stepped up his defensive effort as he has been disrupting passing lanes, evident by five steals against the Tamaraws, and has been providing stability on the defensive end for the Archers.
Conversely, if the Fighting Maroons want to leave with the victory, they will just need to replicate what they did against La Salle before. Repeating a 16 three-pointer day, however, will not be easy so UP will have to be ready to score from the inside. Also, they will need to once again limit Mbala’s presence in the post with bigs like Ibrahim Ouattara and Jerson Prado. While the Cameroonian ended with 34 points in their last game, UP was able to slow him down in the second half with quick double teams and various zone defenses. Surely, the Fighting Maroons have the talent to compete with any team on any given day. It is up to the players to execute correctly what the coaching staff needs of them.
The Green Archers play the Fighting Maroons at 4 pm, at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.
