Pregame: DLSU vs UST 8/11

After a nightmarish game last Saturday, the Green Archers look to end the first round on a winning note against the UST Tigers on Thursday. Game time is at 3PM.

La Salle has owned UST for the past 10 UAAP seasons, and look to extend this dominant streak. The Tigers have only managed to defeat the Archers once since Game 1 of the 1999 finals. Though history is on their side, La Salle should not be overconfident. Their preseason loss to the Tigers may be an indication that the law of averages would soon catch up with them.

This is perhaps the most complete UST team since they last won the championship back in 2006. Jeric Fortuna and Jeric Teng have been so far the most consistent scorers for the Tigers averaging 15.5 and 13.2 points respectively. Versatile rookie Kevin Ferrer gives them an added dimension on offense while foreign recruit Kareem Abdul provides stability down low.

The Tigers are a good offensive team, like to play up-tempo, and have a sneaky fastbreak play which they’ve used successfully against us right after we score. They also like to shoot from outside, and if we play soft defense on the perimeter like we did against Adamson, it will be a long game. The Archers need to take control early,  step up on defense and not allow themselves again to fall behind by a huge margin. They are likely to lose when playing catch-up but they have a good chance of winning if they keep the game close all throughout or lead big.

For the Archers, they need a good game from LA and Oda. Both of them were held below their usual numbers in their last outing. The team should continue to be aggressive especially inside since UST’s frontline is not that deep. Expect Yutien, Norbert and Arnold to get plenty of scoring opportunities here. It’s unlikely that our players will have a recurrence of the head-scratching layup yips that plagued their last 3 open layup attempts against the Falcons. And of course, we hope the Archers would have good day at the charity stripe.

Both teams are currently tied at 3-3 and a win by La Salle here would tie them with FEU for a share of third place in the standings heading to the second round of the season. An extra motivation for the Archers to win is a possible early payback rematch with the Falcons on Sunday.

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