Yes we lost to FEU. Yes we have been eliminated. However, we still hold “OUR BANNER HIGH AND BRIGHT, A SHIELD OF GREEN AND WHITE.”
First and foremost, I and certainly all Lasallians are proud of what you all achieved this year. For that you deserve the Lasallian community’s admiration and gratitude. Like most people, me included, we thought that we would not even be in the Final Four. You all proved us wrong and this was one time where being wrong felt good. Whether you were a starter or hardly played at all, each and everyone of you deserve our deepest gratitude and respect. After what we went through last year, it felt great to be in the kind of atmosphere that true La Salle basketball is all about.
I would also like to thank and congratulate Br. Bernie Oca FSC for a great season. You made us proud as the host of this year’s UAAP tournament.
To Coach Dindo, congratulations on what you accomplished. It was a pleasant surprise that hardly anyone expected. You revived the Animo spirit that somewhat diminished after last year’s sorry performance. You took a team of 7 rookies, 4 sophomores and 5 veterans so close to a chance at the championship. We were 1 foul shot away from a 2nd game against FEU.
I’m sure there will be many who will be “after game coaches” and 2nd guess your moves and decisions especially at the end game of the 4th quarter and the overtime period. I have to admit that I have my own feelings about what should or should not have been done, but would rather keep that to myself as it is not the time to put blame on anyone but rather celebrate an unexpected accomplishment.
There is however one area that I cannot help but write about and that is about our horrendous foul shooting. I am writing about it because it has been going on for so long and yet nothing is being done to remedy the situation. It is not only my observation but an obvious flaw that the entire Lasallian community cannot understand.
This season, La Salle was 3rd in most free throws taken yet we were second to last in free throws made. We hit 58.9% of our free throws during the regular season. Only UP was worst than us. In today’s game we missed 18 free throws. That is really horrible
Free throws have been a curse to La Salle teams as far back as I can remember. I have played competitive basketball, even had a stint in the NCAA and fundamental foul shooting drills were as much a part of our practices as everything else. I was looking at the way the team shoots their free throws and most of them are so fundamentally unsound. The only ones that have basic fundamentals are Atkins, Mendoza and Vosotros. The rest do not.
I will not talk about any player but like most of the Lasallian community, I am dumbfounded on this free throw curse that La Salle seems to have. Our big men should be good foul shooters because their inside game will often get them fouled. Yet they are not able to contribute from the stripe. I honestly feel that most of the players have a phobia of going to the foul line because they assume they will miss the shot even before they even take it. If you notice the tremendous sight of relief that the players get when they make their foul shots, you will see that the pressure is really one of thier biggest problem
In a previous article, I wrote about two of the best NBA foul shooters, Larry Bird and Calvin Murphy. This is what they say about foul shooting.
“Larry Bird once said that foul shooting is an act of repetition. There are 3 things that makes one a good foul shooter. These are balance, taking your time and doing the what is effective the same way every time. Calvin Murphy. who had one of the best foul shooting percentages in NBA history mentions that effective foul shooting has 3 components. First your feet have to be parallel to each other because this gives you balance. Second you get your strength from bending your knees and third you get your direction from your arm. He adds that there should be a full extension of the arm after the ball is released. Murphy’s system is effective especially during endgame situations because the power from the knees does not diminish due to exhaustion.”
Other teams have improved their foul shooting yet we continue to slide. Being in the foul line is a lonely place to be. It can so pressure laden because you are all alone, nobody is guarding and thousands of people are shouting and cheering just to mess up your concentration. However that is part of the game and every player should learn to adjust to those circumstances. Pressure is no excuse for missing foul shot because it is always gonna be there. Most of this year’s team members will be back next year and if this single biggest problem we have will not be addressed it will continuously haunt us. We have already lost too many games because of horrible foul shooting. It’s time to take a very serious look at addressing this problem.
This early we are already looking forward to next year. We are all excited about the top calibe new players that are rumored to be joining the team. However if our foul shooting woes are not addressed, it will be a curse that will hound us until the moon turns blue.
Till next year…ANIMO LA SALLE!
