12PM – Smart Araneta Coliseum
The Green Archers have yet to win a game convincingly especially against the bottom teams. The team barely escaped an undermanned Falcons team last week.
“It was not the game that we visualized, but I’ll take the win anytime,” said coach Gee Abanilla.
Aside from the dismal 6-18 free throw shooting, the team lost LA Revilla during the first half of that game with an ankle sprain.
“LA Revilla’s injury threw us off a bit.” said coach Gee. With LA sidelined, rookies Thomas Torres and Mac Tallo were given the opportunity to play extended minutes and gave solid contributions.
And for the team’s struggles from the foul line, coach Gee believes that the problem is all mental.
“I tell the boys that they have to be strong. A lot of people have been harping about it and it has somehow gotten into their mind.”
Finally ending a 3-game slump, coach Gee believes that their record does not reflect the team’s real talent. “I’m happy that we finally gotten over the hump but I believe that our record does not reflect our true game. We’ve been telling our boys that we can compete in this league and we hope that this win would energize us.”
In what is shaping up to be a five-way fight for the Final 4, tomorrow’s game against NU is a must-win for the Green Archers if they are to remain within striking distance with the leaders.
Pregame Points:
Defense
The Bulldogs average 70.8 points per game. Worst thing that La Salle can do is to engage in a shootout. Key is to limit their bench scoring where they currently second to last in that category at 15.5ppg (DLSU is second with 23.5ppg). Stat-wise, they struggle if Parks and Mbe carry more of the offensive load.
4-3
A win would tie them with NU for 4th place at the end of the first round and will just be a game behind the loser of the FEU-ADMU match. UST is expected to win against AdU on Sunday so they will be tied for 1st (6-1) with either the Tamaraws or Blue Eagles entering the second round.
On the other hand, a loss would put them two games out of the top four. With the way the other teams are playing, it would be very hard to play catch-up in such a short tournament. Every win matters at this point.
Go Archers!