After suffering two demoralizing defeats against the FEU Tamaraws and UE Red Warrior, the Green Archers look to stave off the sting of their past defeats as they take on the Adamson Soaring Falcons tomorrow, 4 pm, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
La Salle currently stands at fifth place in the standings with a 2-3 record while Adamson is currently tied with UST with a 3-2 record.
Quick History
Last season, the Archers convincingly swept the Falcons with a couple of dominating wins.
In their first round encounter, La Salle outsmarted Adamson with a 56-52 win. Jeron Teng led the Archers with a double-double feat of 15 points and 10 rebounds while Norbert Torres posted 10 points and 13 boards.
Off to the second round with their Final Four hopes on the lines, La Salle came up big with a 72-59 win led by Norbert’s 12 markers and 14 boards.
Keys to victory
For the Archers to win this game, they must play with an all-out effort for the entire game to avoid any kind of collapse that they encountered in their past two games. The team must capitalize on its newfound confidence in its outside shooting armada of Almond Vosotros, Luigi De La Paz and even Thomas Torres.
Moving on, the Archers rebounding will always be one of the vital signs of victory since it helps them set the pace of the game at their desired tempo. In their matchups last year, La Salle was able to outrebound Adamson by taking advantage of their undersized frontline of Rodney Brondial and Eric Camson.But things have changes for the Falcons after the acquisition of Ingrid Sewa which led them to be a tougher rebounding team. Expect the much-improved Arnold Van Opstal to be all-out against Sewa as he continues to show off his array of post moves and athletic leaping ability. Furthermore, the rebounding prowess of DLSU’s other big men in Jason Perkins, and Nobert Torres will always be a welcome sight.
Shifting through the perimeter, the Green Archers must be wary of the Falcon’s Roider Cabrera. Although labelled as volume shooter, Cabrera will always be a tricky since he can get hot at any point in the game. Given his knack for shooting tough three pointers, La Salle must be ready to challenge his shots to avoid any three-point barrages for Adamson.
In the guards department, the Archers will face the likes of Jericho Cruz, Ryan Monteclaro and Raouf Julkipli. A key stat would always be limiting turnovers and crafty decision-making since it has been the waterloo for La Salle’s past two games. Given the size advantage of the Falcons’ guards, the Archers must rely heavily on their speed, athleticism, and drawing double teams in order to provide good floor spacing as evidenced by the team’s perimeter attacks against their previous foes.
Lastly, the Archers must toughen their mental approach when it comes to their foul shooting. It has been their test for the season and it has cost them games but the team will always have the character in them on bouncing back in never give up. Hopefully, the team can be more focused this time around since they are always used as baits in gruelling flames of the charity stripe.
Never shall we fail
One shall rise and one shall fall. With minor bumps along the way, a major comeback will always be in the shelves waiting for its release. It is now the time for the team to gets its groove back and ignite the Animo in them once more.