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These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The two squads do not have the most productive benches this season, finishing in the bottom two of reserve production throughout the elimination round. Paolo Pe, meanwhile, gives Abdul more rest, and other guys like Kim Lo and John Sheriff also infuse energy when inside the court.
The bigger Torres will be a great match-up with Pe given their sizes, Dela Paz and Thomas Torres are also capable scorers, while Salem will give Perkins a much-needed break. He knows how to handle the pressure and that is proven by their card in do-or-die games. Coach Juno Sauler is in his first year as a head coach for the Green Archers, and it has been a wonderful season for him so far. It is up to Sauler to sustain that momentum heading into the finals.
It will be a whole new experience meanwhile for the La Salle side. But given their focus this season, it may be their biggest chance to bring back the glory to Taft. Ben Mbala has affected this game by emphatically slamming it home, and it gave the Green Archers all the momentum that they needed. Championship poise and determination are what carried La Salle to force a game 3, and they showed Ateneo that if they were to win the championship, they have to pry it from the Green Archers' cold dead hands.
Here is what is needed for La Salle to get that back-to-back: 1. La Salle is a team. Ben Mbala cannot do it alone. Two players cannot carry the load for La Salle if they expect to repeat this season. Using Ben Mbala at the triple threat worked wonders in the second half, with almost every play going through him. Set screens for the shooters and slashers. There will be a man open since Mbala is thrown extra bodies every time he touches the ball.
Moving will ensure that Ateneo recovering on defense will be hard, and there will be an open shot. Both instances that La Salle won, it was a fast-paced game. You cannot play slow and deliberate basketball against Ateneo because it is not your identity. You need to strike at every possible opportunity, specially in transition. Ateneo's weakness this season has been fast-paced games, and game 2 is a solid testament to that.
La Salle has done a good job of getting Ateneo's big men into foul trouble, and this disrupts the rotation. When Ikeh and Go are saddled with fouls, they force Kris Porter to come into the game and no offense to Porter, but Mbala is simply too much to handle.
Matt Nieto in game 2 was in a funk, forcing up shots to stop the bleeding for Ateneo. When the offense bogs down, he is the escape hatch. La Salle made sure that nothing will be easy for Matt in game 2, and they need to sustain that defensive intensity. Mayhem defense needs to be at its best in game 3.
Much as La Salle made sure that an 8-point game of Mbala will never happen again, expect Tab Baldwin and the Blue Eagles to make sure that their machine stays humming all game long in game 3. The timely substitutions and rotation pattern of the Blue Eagles ensure that everyone is fresh in the end game.
The drawback here is sometimes, it renders the players cold. The Green Archers need to take note of that and pair it with their defense to avoid an Ateneo run that can send the whole of Taft avenue crying on Sunday.
You are the defending champions. You survived game 2, and you know that momentum is on your side. Ateneo is a hungry team and it will not lay down for you. If you feel like you deserve it, you damn well make sure that you take it. This has been the best Ateneo-La Salle series everyone has seen in a while. Safe to say that the rivalry has been rekindled, and that fire will reach its maximum temperature on Sunday, with the UAAP championship hanging in the balance.
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