THE De La Salle University Green Archers begin their title defense as they face the National University (NU) Bulldogs on the opening day of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 89 men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
La Salle battles NU at 2:30 p.m., succeeding the curtain-raiser contest between host Far Eastern University and Adamson University at 12 p.m.
Ticketed separately, the match between the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the University of the Philippines serves as the final offering at 6 p.m.
At press time on Saturday afternoon, the league was holding its opening ceremony at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Riddled with injuries last year, the Archers hope to stay healthy this time in a repeat bid against a tough field.
“I think lots of teams beefed up. UST is a strong team now. NU is a strong team. Adamson’s been playing well. All the teams right now have gotten better,” said La Salle assistant coach Caloy Garcia.
“It’s going to be anybody’s race this year. I think the most important thing is to try to be healthy during the season because that was one setback that we had last year. So we’re just hoping that we can be healthy and try to give us another chance again.” With Mike Phillips graduating, Kean Baclaan turning professional and EJ Gollena transferring to Jose Rizal University, Jacob Cortez is expected to carry the offensive load alongside Mason Amos.
Led by head coach Topex Robinson, La Salle will be more defensive-oriented — the mentality that enabled them to oust last year’s top seed NU in the semis and make the Finals as the No. 4 seed.
“Everybody knows La Salle will always be a defensive team that’s why we’re focused on that,” said Garcia.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs finished last year’s eliminations as the top seed only to lose their twice-to-beat advantage and fall to eventual champs Archers in the semis.
With a slew of veterans including Steve Nash Enriquez and Most Valuable Player contender Jake Figuerora graduating, the team looks to lean on the leadership of seniors Reinhard Jumamoy, PJ Palacielo and Kenji Padrona.
“Basically, moving forward, that’s what we’re doing. Of course, it’s still a learning experience because compared with the previous year, we hadn’t reached that final four. But last year, we reached the number one seed,” said NU head coach Jeff Napa.
“Our approach will still be the same. The only difference is that the team has gotten younger, so we need to improve our approach even more so that at least we can achieve whatever it is that we want to happen.”
