Following their dominant Final Four victory over the NU Bulldogs last Saturday, November 25, the DLSU Green Archers are set to finally make another UAAP finals appearance—their first after six long years. During that timespan, the team underwent up-and-down seasons, scratching and clawing their way to make it to the Finals to bring the UAAP Men’s Basketball crown back to Taft.
Now with an active nine-game winning streak, La Salle will be battling for the gold against the last team that handed them a loss–the top-seeded UP Fighting Maroons. Both teams will make history after advancing to the championship, facing each other for the first time in the Finals.
Odds evened
In their Elimination Round meetings, the two juggernauts split the season series at one game apiece. In their Round One match last October 18, UP completed a second half comeback after DLSU squandered a lead, struggling from the former’s two-three zone defense. The Fighting Maroons made light work of the Green Archers down low and held the Taft-based squad to score just three points in the third quarter, resulting in an eventual victory for UP.
But the Green and White avenged that defeat in Round Two, learning from their previous mistakes and capitalizing on their strengths. They outran the Diliman-based team and played with superior ball movement which led to shooters getting good looks and making easy baskets. With this gallant win, La Salle handed UP their second loss of the season to even their head-to-head standing.
Both matches gave a glimpse of what to expect in the Season 86 Finals—how Green Archers Head Coach Topex Robinson and Fighting Maroons Head Coach Goldwin Monteverde are true masterminds in their craft with organized playbooks yet possessing the ability to make quick adjustments.
However, it should be noted that both teams were not at full strength during their respective defeats. Floor generals Evan Nelle and JD Cagulangan missed some action, with the former nursing an injury in Round One and the latter the same in Round Two. With both players meeting for the first time this season on the big stage, the matchup will make a huge difference on the end result—piquing the interest of basketball fans nationwide.
Friends and foes reunite
Despite both teams battling it out for the first time in UAAP Basketball Finals history, the players and coaches are definitely no strangers to each other. Adding fuel to the fire are the already-existing connections between old friends and rivals, with some even dating back to their high school playing days.
Donning UST’s colors at the beginning of their UAAP careers, sharpshooters Mark Nonoy and CJ Cansino are now on opposite ends following their Finals appearance together back in Season 82 where they stumbled from winning the title. While Cansino is already a UAAP champion with the Fighting Maroons in Season 84, La Salle’s Nonoy has an opportunity to earn his first against his former teammate and good friend in the upcoming Finals matchup.
Long-time rivals also meet once more in the aforementioned Cagulangan and Nelle. The two have butted heads since their NCAA Juniors days, where the former’s team ousted the latter’s to win the Season 93 championship. Nelle mentioned his excitement in facing Cagulangan, adding that he has to match the now-UP guard’s effort and maybe even exert more.
Meanwhile, Monteverde will be coaching against his former mentee—leading MVP candidate Kevin Quiambao. The pair were members of the dominant Nazareth School of National University (NSNU) Bullpups that stood undefeated in 16 games, eventually claiming the UAAP Juniors Season 82 crown. Aside from Quiambao facing his coach, though, he will be going up against former Bullpups teammates Gerry Abadiano, Harold Alarcon, Janjan Felicilda, Terrence Fortea, and Reyland Torres.
Keys to the gold
One of the key factors for DLSU to bag their 10th UAAP title is their run-and-gun offense. Per UAAP statistics, the team ranks first in the league in average points, assists, and points off turnovers. Those were the keys to their Round Two victory against UP—prioritizing sharing the basketball complemented with fast tempo. Moreover, the duo of Nelle and Quiambao combined for an average of 12.8 dishes per game in the Elimination Round—something that should give La Salle the quality looks that they need to outmatch the top-seeded squad.
The Green and White also emerged as the second-best three-point shooting team in the season, lighting it up from beyond the arc at 31.2 percent. The Fighting Maroons, on the other hand, finished at sixth. Nonoy is one of the key players in the Green Archers’ winning stretch, swishing a red-hot 39.3 percent from downtown on 61 attempts. Expect the La Salle guard’s off-ball movement to be challenged by the defensively-disciplined UP team, but that should leave other shooters open on the perimeter.
The Diliman-based squad stands atop the average team blocks per game ladder with DLSU at fourth. However, UP also averaged the most fouls committed among all teams, while the Green and White finished with the second-least. La Salle should capitalize on drawing calls for free throws to prevent the number one fastbreak scorers in the UAAP from making a run, especially Nelle who only missed four freebies in 33 attempts in the Elimination Round.
Finally, it will be up to Robinson’s defensive unit to suppress Season 85 MVP Malick Diouf in the paint and the ignitable Cansino on the perimeter, who combine for an average of 24.5 points per game. La Salle’s wings and bigs, especially Mike Phillips, Jonnel Policarpio, and Raven Cortez will all have to exert extra effort to disallow easy baskets in the paint where the Green and White ranked dead last in the league in that category.
Robinson led DLSU to where they are currently with eyes locked on their 10th UAAP championship. The first-year head coach put it best when asked about his mindset on the upcoming Finals during the post-game press conference following their Final Four victory last Saturday: “When I took this job, I told [the team] that it’s either you win a championship or you die trying… We’ll die swinging. We’re just going to give a good fight to UP.”
The Green Archers look to fulfill that vow in their final challenge before the confetti falls from the ceiling. The team from Taft hope to get a taste of gold after seven long years since winning it all the way back in Season 79. Glory will be at stake starting tomorrow as their battle against the UP Fighting Maroons commences in Game One of the UAAP Finals, at 6 pm, in the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
