Quick Fire: UP Fighting Maroons' three-point barrage too much for La Salle Green Archers

(Photo Credit: SLAM Philippines)

Final Score:  UP Fighting Maroons def. De La Salle Green Archers 98-87

Notable Players

Paul Desiderio (career high 30 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 53% FG percentage, 60% 3pt percentage)
This man who has a single mission of creating nightmares for La Salle shredded Mayhem with his precise sniping from downtown.  Desiderio's aggressive one-on-one moves and with his fluidity in creating space using high screens enabled this deadly Fighting Maroon to keep the Green Archers at bay by scoring 13 points in the 3rd quarter.  Desiderio also missed only 1 of his 7 three-point attempt in the last three quarters engineering a UP comeback and taking the lead for keeps.

Jun Manzo (17 points, 4 assists, 47% FG percentage + 1 bold tweet)
This Cebuano kid has quickly picked up the Fighting Maroons swagger with a bold prediction before the start of the game.  Not only did he orchestrate the floor to Maroon perfection but also set up his buddy Desiderio for easy hoops.

Juan Gomez De Liano (10 points, 5 rebounds , 4 assists)
The younger De Liano brought more than his swagger in his 20 minutes on the floor, he was everywhere.  Skying high for rebounds, creating open shots for fellow Maroons and effectively slicing through Mayhem in the first half backstopped the Desiderio-led upheaval.

Javi Gomez De Liano (10 points, 5 rebounds, 44% from the field and 50% from 3-point area)
The older De Liano came up with an efficient day in the field was particularly deadly from deep.  Javi capitalized on gambling Mayhem defense and drained wide open jumpers in the critical 3rd quarter when UP started to stretch the lead.

Ben Mbala (career high 34 points, 50% 3 pt percentage, 12 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal)
Mbala snapped the net from 3 point country in the first quarter, sank four triples in the initial canto as La Salle took a 14-point margin.  But the vision of a Michael Jordan unconscious playoff performance fizzled when Mbala lost his touch the rest of the way.  Mbala managed only 5 points in the second quarter when UP seized the lead and could only dole out 2 points in the final quarter when La Salle was trying desperately to salvage their immaculate slate.

Quick Analysis

- If the season ended last Saturday, Coach of the Year should go to Bo Perasol and the whole UP coaching staff for sketching a precise master plan of slaying the Green Archers.  From breaking Mayhem to ball rotation, UP found the right people in the right spots sinking the right shots.  Even the revolving chair on who will body-up Mbala seemed to be masterfully planned.   When Mbala and his barrage of 3s threatened to rip the game wide open in the first quarter, UP used the same game plan and sank a record tying 16 triples.

Perasol also used his bench to exhaust the expected short La Salle rotation.  While La Salle used 7 Archers logging a heavy 20 minutes on the floor, UP decided to go with 14 men with only three logging in more than 20 minutes.

-  The full court coverage has its' pluses and also has a price.  Mayhem is a defensive scheme that gambles a lot by double teams and cutting the passing lanes.  La Salle paid the full tariff on defensive gambles and seemed to have slept on defense allowing almost open looks and reacting half a second too late.  When UP got the momentum, it was hard to stop.  When UP started to rain 3s, the were impossible to beat.

-  The Mbala return continues to ground the Archers offensive flow.  Slower ball movement and most often, bailout baskets characterized the Green Archers with Mbala.  Prolific scorer Aljun Melecio sank into a slump while Ricci Rivero seemed to have lost his rhythm in their efforts to find open spots. Melecio tried to make up for lost time by attempting 8 three-point shots and hitting only one and finished the game with 17% shooting clip.