DE LA SALLE coach Derrick Pumaren picked up the pieces from harrowing loss to archrival and defending champion Ateneo on Saturday and is now prepping the Green Archers for a bounce back win on Tuesday when students and fans will be allowed entry on a limited basis at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“It’s very frustrating. We made a lot of mistakes and we did not execute the things that we were doing offensively,” said Pumaren, whose Green Archers were schooled by the Blue Eagles, 57-74, in their first meeting in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines’ return in Season 84.
“We just gave up, that’s how I see it. But the most important thing is how we could bounce back on Tuesday,” he added.
De La Salle plays a red-hot University of Santo Tomas (UST) squad on Tuesday at 10 a.m. and both schools, like all other teams in the eight-member league, will be anticipating the cheers from their fans.
The UAAP started on March 26 without fans and students but the BusinessMirror reported on Thursday—and confirmed by the league on Friday—that they will be allowed entry into the arena on a limited basis.
Also, the fans will be allowed entry only at the lower and upper box sections of the venue.
The Green Archers fell to a 3-1 won-lost card and will be facing a resurgent Growling Tigers who have gone 2-2 built around consecutive wins over the University of the East Red Warriors, 74-62, and Adamson University Soaring Falcons, 79-72.
“We just have to learn from our mistakes last Saturday, and we just have to go back to drawing board,” said Pumaren, who will again be relying heavily on Justin Baltazar and Michael Philips.
No thanks to Ateneo’s pesky interior defense led by 6-foot-11 naturalized player Ange Kouame, Baltazar was limited to only five points on 2 of 10 shooting—but he had 12 rebounds—on Saturday.
Kouame, on the other hand, was a monster with 16 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks to lead Ateneo to its fourth consecutive win.
Philips scattered 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Green Archers, but was controlled by the Blue Eagles in the payoff period.