Postscript to the La Salle-Ateneo Game 8/16

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Well Archers. If you think this week was tough, the real challenge still lies ahead of us. We are approaching our crucial games. The loss to Adamson was actually more important to us that the loss last Sunday, because UE won against Adamson. Our game against UE now becomes a must win for us to catch up with them. Look at the standings. If you notice, the field is bunched up into three (the front runners Ateneo and FEU with identical 7-1 records), the middle of the field (UE 5-4, UST 4-4, and La Salle 4-5), and the tailenders (UP and NU 2-6, and Adamson 2-7).

It’s been said that 8 wins will get us to the final 4. The first crucial tiff is UP on Saturday. With our morale at an all time low following those 3 successive losses, UP might have a chance at upending our Archers. If we lose to UP, we lose ground to the third group, just half a game ahead of them; our only hope then is to sweep the remaining games for an 8-6 record, or lose one more to any team and win the rest for a 7-7 record). Two more losses and we are virtually out of the running this year.

This is a daunting task. We still have to play UE, UST, and FEU, all legitimate final 4 contenders. How’d we get here? Things have just not fallen at the proper places and at the right times. Against Ateneo last Sunday, of our veterans, only Peejay and Maui showed up. Webb scored half of what he scored last Sunday but you couldn't really ask for another monster game from him after Ateneo scouted him in detail. Our young recruits failed to make an impact.

James Mangahas continues to be a puzzle to many. Historically, he has not played well against Ateneo because of their post defenders like Nonoy Baclao. James is a finesse player who takes floaters or jumpers but does not bang bodies inside, and against a post blocker like Baclao, this doesn't work. In contrast, James usually does well against Adamson and UST because of their porous defense and the absence of a big shot-blocking threat.

Against Ateneo, our point guard woes continued to show. Our lack of a true pg to backstop Simon was telling, because Salamat again managed to steal the ball from our players.  How many times did Ateneo drive and draw? How many times was our zone broken by quick passing to an open man who more often than not made the long shot?

Our shot selection is another issue. Sam Marata's career in the UAAP so far has been nothing more than three point shooting. In fact, all his field goals are three point shots. If he learns to drive to the basket with authority, he will be next to impossible to stop. Arvie Bringas also had bad shot selection in that game, opting to just take outside shots in this game. James struggled to get a shot off at all. Bader missed almost everything he hoisted. Sam was limited to just a handful of attempts.

All these are slowly being learned by our young players. We might feel bad about the results of the last few games, but no one feels worse than our young players. Sometimes, maturity comes at a price, and perhaps this is their baptism of fire.

So Archers, we STILL have a chance at it this year. If it doesn't happen, we have a BETTER chance next year. If it still doesn't happen, we have an even BETTER chance in 2011, when we celebrate our Centennial year. By then, most of these young-uns will no longer be young-uns, but grizzled veterans who will give their opponents a hell of a time. And we’ll finally have Norbert Torres in our lineup.

Make it known to the team that your support is wholehearted, no matter what the results are going to be in the coming weeks. Make it known to them that their development is forthcoming and just like good medicine, it always tastes bitter at first. Make it known to them that our once reliable veterans of past teams did not become superstars until later in their playing careers.

ANIMO!!!!!!

The View from the Armchair: Game 9 vs Ateneo

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We were owned, at least for this game. That aptly describes the result of our second loss against defending champion Ateneo to the tune of 65-81. The game was close only for one and a half quarters, but once the Blue Eagles pulled away to a double digit lead on a Monfort triple at 15-25, the Archers’ game went south.

What went right

Very little. The Archers were outhustled, outshot, outrebounded, and generally outplayed. But there were flashes of energy, the last of which saw the lead cut down to 13 at 50-63 early in the 4th quarter. But after a couple of baskets by Ateneo, the rally fizzled out and Ateneo coasted to the end, content to just match the Archers basket for basket. Peejay also continued his recovery from his shooting slump, firing away from long range for 16 points while making 50% of his shots. Joshua continued his scoring run against Ateneo with 13, and Maui contributed 10 markers after being more aggressive on offense.

If the game was rated based on quarters won, surprisingly, the Archers actually won the 3rd quarter and tied Ateneo in the 4th while losing the first two. Unfortunately, the game was won in the first half when the Blue Eagles built a 17point lead at 44-27. In the 2nd half, they just matched the Archers to keep them at bay.

What didn’t work

The defense. Rabeh Al-Husseini got away for 26 points, scoring on jumpers from close range. The boxing out efforts of the Archers also failed to keep Ateneo away from the shaded lane, and they used their height advantage to tip in several missed shots. The press, while it generated a few turnovers early, failed to keep Ateneo at bay. Ateneo exploited their scouting of the Archer defense for open shots using crisp, quick passing plays to find the open areas, where a waiting Ateneo shooter would almost always be positioned. Their almost 59% shooting clip from the 2 point area was indicative of the ease of which the Blue Eagles were able to handle the Archer defense. Whenever an Archer would attempt a foray into the paint, the Ateneo defenders were ready, and they blocked 7 shots without any reciprocation from the Archers.

The Archer offense, on the other hand, continued to sputter. In the first half, by the time Ateneo had pulled away to erect that 15-25 lead, the Archers had already misfired on 10 3point attempts. The standard Archer offensive plays were also well defended. A telling statistic was the 10-22 disparity in assists. Ateneo’s fluid passing enabled them to find the open teammate, while the Archers struggled to get the ball into good scoring positions. Other statistics were relatively close in the 2nd half, but by then the damage had been done and the lead could not be surmounted.

The rookie watch

Sam and Arvie continued their run of games where they made 3pointers. Sam, in particular, was accurate, hitting 2/3 of his attempts from the 3point area, but he played only 11 minutes. Yutien tried to duplicate his success against Al-Husseini, but Black moved Rabeh to the high post area and allowed him to take post up jumpers, most of which he made. Joel again played limited minutes, made both of his fg attempts and foul shots for 6 points. Jed and Gab failed to enter the game.

Moving forward

Again, the Archers started the round with a 2-game losing streak. With 5 games to go against UP, UE, UST, FEU, and NU (in that order), they cannot afford to lose more than 1 game if they want to make it to the final 4. Eight wins will assure them of at least a playoff for the final berth. If they lose more than one game, they will have to rely on factors outside their control, such as the other contenders losing enough games. It’s still possible, but they will have to pick up their game and regain that winning attitude.

KEEP THE FAITH!

Postgame Bullets: DLSU 65 ADMU 81

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• La Sallians are probably longing for a game when all of our players would play consistently. The veterans, namely Peejay Barua gave a good account of himself this game but sadly, those who carried the cudgels for the team just a week ago were not in their usual selves.
• The team is currently on a three-game slide for the first time in more than a decade. The loss against Adamson probably has to hurt the most. With a 4-5 record, the team is currently out of the Final 4 picture if it started today.
• All is not lost though as there are still 5 more games to be played. 8 wins would probably secure us of at least a playoff for a semifinal berth. A tall order indeed considering that the Archers have yet to face FEU, UE and UST this round.
• A twice-to beat edge may already be out of the question for our team. Securing a place in the final 4 should now be the team’s main focus and if this could be achieved, anything can happen.
• This is has got to be a disappointing week for all of us. Counting the Junior Archers’ loss yesterday to the Eaglets, La Salle has lost 4 games against the Blue Bird Schools (the other being Adamson) in 8 days. We failed to hit our target in this bird hunting week.
• As to how our team will bounce back after these series of setbacks remains to be seen. At this point, there’s no way to go but UP!

Pregame Bullets: DLSU vs ADMU 8/16

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• I decided to dig-up the archived files of the old greenarcher.net site and I just learned that the last time we defeated the Blue Eagles in a regular UAAP elimination round match was way back on September 15, 2005. The score was 72-55.
• Despite losing to Ateneo last Sunday, the Archers played a good game. It was just unfortunate that breaks didn’t go the team’s way in overtime and this enabled the Eagles to pull-off a 76-72 victory.
• Surprisingly, they will face the Eagles again this Sunday. The Archers were probably already too focused for this rematch that they forgot they had to duel with the slumping Adamson Falcons first. Alas, they also lost that game as well. Disappointing as it is, the Archers should forget this one, move on and be ready for the succeeding games.
• The veterans really have to step-up for us to win. True, we probably indeed have the best crop of rookies this season but experience will still carry this team forward. Sadly the more seasoned players have not yet been consistent in providing the much needed boost.
• It just seems that the people are looking for a Guardian Archer (aka King Archer), one that will call them to a huddle and DEMAND performance from the others, and at the same time perform excellently himself. There has been none yet this season. Simply because we are the youngest team in the league right now. We cannot get that from one Archer this season. It has to be a collective effort by the TEAM.
• The model we have to follow is the Archer team of the first Ateneo-La Salle encounter. Everybody trusted everybody. When the shot was available, they took it without hesitation. When the defensive stop was needed, we delivered. Why did we come up short then? Because, we still lack the experience to recognize that the little things are very important and not to be taken for granted. And those little things added up to the 4 points that was our deficit at the end of the game.
• Franz is really trying to fill the gaps. The substitutions are being made. Nobody is over worked. The playing time is well distributed. This is a hint to the players already. There is NO GUARDIAN ARCHER this season. BUT................ALL OF YOU, the players, are the guardian archers this season AS A COLLECTIVE UNIT. If there is one they should keep in mind, it is TEAM.
• The scouting has been done. The plans have been laid out, together with the contingency options. The TEAM has rehearsed everything over and over again. It's now down to execution, and desire. Our team just has to want it more.
• On a side note, former Archer Mac Mac Cardona was spotted at the DLSU Sports Complex yesterday. When asked why he was there, he said that he will be practicing with the team.

Includes reports from Andrew Tan and Proud Archer