A 3-game losing streak is unknown territory for the Green Archers and their followers. If that’s a difficult concept to swallow, how about not making it to the Final Four for the first time? Mind-boggling, isn’t it? With the way the team is playing now, there is a growing concern that this highly improbable scenario could now become a reality. After everything that we have seen this season, could it still get any worse?
Of course all is not lost. A Final Four stint is very much possible but the Archers should get their act together now and make a good push towards the end of the elimination round. Historically, the Archers have started slow but began to peak in the second round. It’s that time of season now.
La Salle defeated UP in their initial outing. Since then, the Fighting Maroons have beaten defending champion Ateneo and almost scored some upsets against the other powerhouse teams. In their losses, they have always been just that small bit short of victory.
Yes UP may be down at the basement of the standings but they’re still a dangerous team. Just like Adamson, the Green Archers will have their hands full against the perimeter players of the Maroons such as Padilla, Co, Lopez, and the 2 Reyess: Martin and Mikee. Iencidentally, both Martin and Mikee come from the ranks of the La Salle high schools.
This is a repeat of the battle of the crossover players: Marata and Tolentino came from UPIS, while Martin, .Mikee, and Migs came from La Salle. UP diehards call Marata and Tolentino “the lost boys”.
This upcoming game is critical for the team as they need to keep pace with UE and UST, both currently ahead by a game. As mentioned before, there’s no where to go for the Archers but UP .
Let’s hope that this Saturday’s game would be a start of something good. It’s been said before, but our 4-game streak started after an initial 2 losses to start the first round. Well, our first 2 games in the 2nd round were also losses. Will we see the start of another streak? I wouldn’t bet against it.
See you at the San Juan Arena on Saturday at 4pm. This will be our first game this season in this venue.
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ICJ
hopefully the coaching staff did some pep talk on the players. being a young team, I’m sure some of them are doubting on their chance of winning right now. maybe some of them are losing confidence. I know coach franz and coach dindo are masters of these kinds of talks, and hopefully,it will rub off on the players and show some pride and spunk on the court.
Anakin
Maui Villanueva from UPIS also.
Bruticus
I hope the boys can finally get back on track by winning tomorrow, but the coaching staff will have to be on the lookout against UP. The Maroons nearly wiped out UST’s 31 pt. lead yesterday and in fact could have beaten the Tigers if only they had enough time and the deficit was not that big.
ronn
if our veterans, i.e. malabes, mangahas, and barua, cannot assert their leadership qualities, if there’s any, expect another big blow on the archers campaign this season. The reason is obvious: we are not executing our plays smoothly, we are not running our breaks well. UP, on the other hand, is playing with less pressure on their shoulders resulting from satisfactory performance from Woody Co, Reyes, Padilla and Sison. Mangahas, Malabes, and Barua are consistent in playing inconsistent basketball. Our rookies, sophomores and juniors are having a hard time getting their strides. It seems that they are looking at their kuyas. At any rate, Atkins and Tolentino should run the plays well, Bringas, Villanueva and Co should haul rebounds and man the paint well, Webb and Marata to shoot the ball with accuracy. Tempo, rebounding and satisfactory field goal and free throw shooting percentage will make a difference. Malabes, Barua, Ferdinand and Mangahas must show that they have good basketball sense, kahit konti, in the remainder of the season. ANIMO
http://deleted tan tan
The Archers MUST win this game, or else, we should brace ourselves for a non-final four appearance this year of our beloved Greean and White squad…ANIMO KEEP THE FAITH!!!
N.P.A
the very least thing that the so called veterans can do is not to shot air balls and offer some resistance to the slashing guards of the opposing team
James G
Everyone talks like just because there are “veteran” players on this team, THEY should lead the team! WRONG!!! Leaders emerge and are not assigned! When Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson were rookies on their pro teams, they EMERGED as leaders in spite of their age! You all think that SENIORITY means leadership but in truth, and from what I’ve witnessed, the veterans on the current roster are NOT the leaders of this team! This team is going through a transition and no one has stepped up to be the leader of this squad – yet. This is a team in search of an identity and that’s why on some days it can play like a champion and others it would have trouble competing against the Junior Archers! I have my ideas (based on what I’ve seen) about who will emerge as leaders in the future but right now, the coaching staff has to point the way off and on the court which in truth is very difficult to do since the coaches are not playing the game. I think this team will handle the Maroons this weekend and hopefully this will lead to more wins, but stop asking the vets to step up and lead this team because those guys just aren’t capable – I’m sorry to say!
Nel
Interesting point, James. Leadership is a quality which is not necessarily acquired through age or experience. So if our vets don’t have the aptitude for leadership, it’s useless to expect them to automatically assume a leadership position. Some people are comfortable taking charge, and some are content to follow the lead. Experience can help a player improve if he learns, but in no way will it automatically make a veteran a leader. Our rookies and sophs haven’t shown the self confidence and willingness to lead; maybe they’re deferring to the vets. Hopefully after this season someone will emerge.
So let’s cut our vets some slack, and not expect them to be leaders. We may only end up disappointed.
N.P.A
DUDE no one has to become leaders, I just want to see all the players especially the ones who are in their last year or those who are not rookies to play up to their potential or close to it. La Sallian community is begging for consistency and to play at least at par in terms of discipline in offense, which will involve ball movement, no trigger happy 3-points that will most likely to be air-balls and I’m begging to see RESISTANCE TO SLASHING GUARDS…
We can’t pin point a leader, james is right about that but, we need a collective effort and discipline to see some results (winning or at least no blow-out losses)
zobel boy
I think the king archers of this year would have to be Joshua Webb and Maui Villanueva coz it seems like wen ever they are on the court the whole team get more agressive on D and on offense.
James G
My experience in playing and coaching team sports is at some point in the season, leaders will emerge. Sometimes though, depending on the particular “culture” of that team, the coaching staff has to recognize this and help those players emerge by encouraging them to step up and take the leadership role even though that might mean initially upsetting some of the veterans on the team. Remember, you lead mostly by example – especially in sports where people tend to follow what they see and are either impressed or offended by someone’s action. Now this action does not have to be a scoring explosion or one great play but an encouraging word in private or a push in a direction to cover an overlap or going off on each other in the locker room at the half, or something like that. Some leaders need prodding others just kick the door down… it depends on the culture surrounding the team.
Fred Cebu
Let’s be careful about suggesting that our team’s problem is the lack or shortage of leaders. One must consider that there are also bad leaders, especially those who are appointed or elected by a group of human beings. What you guys might be referring to is a “charismatic leader”, one who is born with such rare qualities. Now that we are already in the second round it is apparent that we do not have one such type of leader. I think our coaching staff should just go back to basics. Strengthen the fundamentals of the players. The full court press, if we cannot innovate on it, must be mothballed for the rest of the season and stick to the man zone. The press have been solved by our opposition and it takes too much energy from our team. Besides, it has become confusing sometimes, especially to the rookies. I am forecasting a 5-9 win-loss record this season for the archers. The coaches should just experiment with the newbies the rest of the season and look forward to next season. I think we will be unbeatable by season 74 with an excellent crop of players coming from the juniors and sister schools. KEEP THE FAITH. ANIMO!
http://greenarchers.ph dlsudiehard
fred cebu, i totally agree with you that the full court press takes away a lot of our player’s energy and that the coaching staff should consider playing zone or a half court press. The reason is being is the other coaches have scouted the la salle press already. Norman Black said that it is a nightmare to work against la salle’s press because there are so many variants. So even if he said that it is a ‘nightmare’, still he knows that there are other variants of the La salle press and i’m pretty sure he has studied these.
Cobie Smulders
I think we should start pirating the African imports standing by at EAC and Arellano.
I believe they both stand at above 6’5 at the very least!
http://yahoo.com ricky
bakit hindi naglaro si atkins against UP?
archerfan
La Salle’s SURE SHOT to be included in the final four right now is to win the remaining games, i.e., UE, FEU, UST and NU. I believe it is a sure win against NU, but you can never tell the outcome when it comes to the UAAP. Hopefully, all of our players will find the spirit to step up to bring the team to the final four. Aside from the coaches’ pep talk, they themselves must find the confidence and assert themselves because the coaches can only do so much for the team.
Yaners
Grabe. Another loss. Well isang dahilan talaga ang mga batang players, pero kung manalo sa mga susunod na games, kaya pang umabot sa final 4, although malalakas ang mga susunod na kalaban. Kaya pa yan!!! Animo La Salle!!!
scuderia
the veterans stepped up this game but still we lost, no more excuses for the dlsu team this time. take this season as a learning experience for everyone then use all the emotion to fight for the championship next season. Animo!
alex soliman bsc ’74
i think the reason why ls has been losing heavily, but not to sound pessimistic becuase i love my alma matter, is because of the lack of a good and solid center and ball handler to distribute and execute the plays. The team wasn’t able to develope reliable players, particularly center, as has been done in the past.
Analyzing past games, esp all the losses, it is very evident that we didn’t have a good defense. As the saying goes “we are picking apples”, particularly in the persons of Rabbeh Al-Hussaini and other players/ball handlers particularly in the shaded area. Take note also that we do not have a strong offense, thus no plays are being executed. Without confidence the palyers were just forced to shoot from the outside which is a low percentage basket, versus our opponents who have a high percentage basket. The reason being is boiled down to having a strong, reliable center…as well as reliable shooting forwards. Analyze the statistics and you will find how the fgs are very low. It is also very noticeable that after every shot made by LS the rebound is 90% in favor of the opponent. In the case of ADMU, I would say that it was a Rabbeh team..which killed LS AND NOT THE ADMU TEAM! No one was able to stop him, unlike the first game, which was a mismatch. Boiling down to what I’ve been saying, we DON’T have a strong center. It is also very evident that ALL the players repeat all (with NO EXCEPTION)
Fred Cebu
Hopefully we will have our 3 towers in season 73, with the likes of Torres (6’7″), van Opstal (6’7″) and a beefed up Andrada (6’7″). We also are looking at a couple of very good point guards in Capacio and Elorde from the juniors. So keep the faith! Animo La Salle!
Fred Cebu
Sorry guys, I meant Paredes (6’7″) and not Torres (6’5″). It will be the tallest team that will be fielded by DLSU next year.
Nel
@Fred, AFAIK Norbert is 6’7″, not 6’5″. Unfortunately, he is not yet eligible to play for us next season, and can only suit up for the Archers in 2011.
James G
Height and size is one thing but without ball distribution starting from the #1 position (point guard), no matter how tall or skilled your players are, they won’t realize the full effect of their abilities. When I watched the UST game, I noticed that La Salle was without a true point guard because the coaching staff was rotating three players at that position! In basketball, I’ve always been a firm believer that the #1 is the “tip of the sword” of your offense and without someone entrenched in that role, everything else moves in delayed motion instead of in synchronicity and up to true game speed as you would like it to be. What happens when you have three players sharing that on position – point guard – you have three distinct styles of offense and the other four players on the court have to adjust to each one’s style each and every time. La Salle has to make it a priority to find and sign a true point guard next season because if they can’t secure a true player at point, no matter who else they recruit and sign, they will still have trouble running the offense.
Fred Cebu
Thanks for the correction Nel. That is indeed a pity. That is season 74, right?
Fred Cebu
James G, that is why I mentioned Capacio and Elorde from the juniors too. You are perfectly right, we do not have good and creative point guards at the moment. I also mentioned that the team has to work on their fundamentals. The team has committed too many travelling, dribbling and passing errors that have resulted in TO points for the opposing teams. The full court press has also given the opposition too many mismatches at the opponents’ goal as the double/triple teaming on the ball carriers do not actually work anymore.
