2PM – Mall of Asia Arena
“We still lack maturity.”
This is what coach Gee Abanilla said following the Archers 61-71 loss to Ateneo last week.
The game saw the Archers come back from a huge deficit midway in the first half and even led at one point in the third period. They kept the game close and were just down by 4 with a little over two minutes remaining. However, their inexperience showed in the end as they failed to execute on offense and allowed the Blue Eagles to pull away for good.
Despite starting the season 2-0, the back-to-back losses against the perennial league contenders underscores the fact that the team still has a lot to learn especially when it comes to closing out games.
Up next for La Salle are the surprising UST Growling Tigers who are at 2-1 in the standings. This game is important if they are to maintain striking distance with the top teams as we enter the closing stretch of the first round.
Pregame Points:
Karim Abdul –UST’s only legit big man leads the league in rebounding with 12 per game. He also averages 16.3 points. With him in tow, the Tigers are tops in 2nd chance points and second to ADMU in points in the paint.
Guards need to step up – UST leads in perimeter and turnover points, while La Salle is at the near bottom of both.
Bench Scoring – La Salle ranks 2nd in points off the bench with 23.5 per game while UST is last at 12.7.
Teng vs Teng – The difficult part for every parent is to watch their children play for opposing teams. Scoring-wise, Jeric is ahead of his younger brother as he is currently third in the league with 18.3 points per game as compared to Jeron’s 12.5 (12th). While we don’t think that they will be guarding each other, it will still be interesting to see the brothers go out and help their respective teams win.