MANILA, Philippines – The De La Salle Green Archers’ up-and-down start to UAAP Season 78 continued with their 77-61 defeat to the UST Growling Tigers on Wednesday, September 30.
Coming in with a two-game winning streak, La Salle was ahead by 14 in the first half before a 28-5 run by the Growling Tigers bridging the second and third quarters gave them control of the contest.
The loss dropped La Salle’s record to 3-3. After the game, Green Archers head coach Juno Sauler told the media that the reason for his team’s defeat basically boils down to how UST made their shots while La Salle missed theirs.
“UST started making their 3s, we didn’t score, our free throw percentage (45%) at the end of the game was even lower than their 3-point percentage (46%), and it’s impossible for a team to win if you shoot worse in your free throws (13/29) than the opposing team’s 3-point field goal (11/24),” Sauler said inside La Salle’s locker room.
Especially in the second half, it seemed like UST couldn’t miss from downtown, while that’s all La Salle did. Kevin Ferrer finished with 17 points and hit 3 triples. Janus Suarez, who played just 6 minutes, went a perfect 3-of-3 from long range.
On the other end, La Sale went a total 21-of-63 from the floor, including 6-of-27 from downtown. Guard Thomas Torres and Andrei Caracut combined to hit just 3-of-16 from deep.
“Like, Daquioag made one - that was his second in 6 games… [Vigil] made two. That was his first two in 6 games this season. Did Suarez make any 3, previous to this game?” Sauler asked, before later saying: “Now, he shoots 3 out of 3 in 6 minutes, I think.”
“So, the bottomline is we just got to make the shots that are available, and then on the defensive end, just keep challenging the shots of the opposing team, and you can’t do anything about it if the shot goes in and you’re there to challenge,” the head coach later said.
The Green Archers’ shooting has been inconsistent this UAAP season. For instance, they went just 3-of-20 from downtown in their last game against UE, but in their previous matchup against Adamson, they hit 9-of-24 from deep.
Caracut and Torres, the two guards playing the most minutes, haven’t hit their triples consistently. The duo have combined to shoot just 16-of-69 from long range in Season 78.
“Maybe,” Sauler said when asked if he’ll consider giving more playing minutes to other shooters like Jollo Go and Andrew Langston, both of whom haven’t played in La Salle’s last two games. “but like Andrei… he’s one of our best 3-point shooters, but there will be days, games when a player shooting very well will struggle. Even Thomas, who’s supposed to be up in the 30s (shooting percentage), hasn’t shot very well also.”
“We just have to find a way to get those shots in,” said Sauler.
Another player that’s surprisingly struggled this season is Jason Perkins, who many expected to be La Salle’s co-pilot along with Jeron Teng.
While Teng is still putting up his numbers - 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists a game - Perkins has been limited to averages of just 6.8 points and 8.3 rebounds a game - quite a drop-off from the 10.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game he was averaging last season.
“They’re taking away also Jason eh,” Sauler said about his third-year player. “Like UST played small. Chance for us to get Jason in the post, but they were double-teaming him, that’s why when he gets double, he has to pass the ball to his open teammate, who’s open, but if he (the teammate) cannot hit shots, then, yun lang, just gotta be able to make shots.”
One issue DLSU’s has problems dealing with this season is stopping the bleeding when opposing teams go on runs. In their wins against NU, Adamson, and UE, the Green Archers led for majority of the contest, but in losses to UP, FEU, and UST, they fell behind by double-digits at one point in each contest and never really recovered.
“It’s not really panic,” Sauler said about the issue. “… like turnovers, we were able to, I think we average 20 a game; we [had] 15 in today’s game, but it’s hard to win if you shoot 22% from the 3 and then 45% from the free throw line. It’s going to be hard to win.”
Slow starts to seasons for La Salle under Sauler isn’t new territory. In his first season with the team in 2013, the Green Archers finished the first round with a 3-4 record before losing just one more game the rest of the way en route to the championship.
In 2014, DLSU lost their first two games before finding their bearings and making the Final Four round.
But Sauler acknowledges that the team needs to have more leaders on the court when things go array, and that responsibility doesn’t necessarily lie on the shoulders of one or two players.
“Not just Jeron, but all the players - whether they’re a veteran or a rookie - everyone has to step up being a leader,” the 42-year-old head coach said.
“It has to be everyone. It could be the 15th guy on the bench leading, and then everyone else just taking that lead and following whoever decides to take that lead at any point during the game.”
The Green Archers end their first round campaign against the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Sunday, October 4. – Rappler.com