BEN Mbala has changed the landscape of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball last season. Mbala dominated the hard court to win the Most Valuable Player award and eventually brought back the lost glory to De La Salle University (DLSU) as last year’s champion.
Fresh from a fruitful stint in the 2017 FIBA AfroBasket Cup Tunisia, the Cameroonian superstar just got even stronger and vastly improved. Mbala shows he is up to another dominant year in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament.
Mbala, who averaged 21.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in AfroBasket, was good as advertised in his season debut with 32 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks to lead DLSU to its third straight win after dismantling Adamson University, 85-73, last Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 6-foot-8 star, who just made an one-of-a-kind season debut, attributes his vast-improvement from his stint in the AfroBasket, which he described as a “completely different level of game.”
“The guys there are pros. some of them are ex-NBA players. They’re smart, they’re skilled. Their basketball IQs are really high. You gotta find a way to matchup and compete,” said Mbala, who finally made his return to the Green Archers after missing their first two victories over Far Eastern University and National University. “I was able to learn a lot from them. And also add a lot to my game—not only to my inside game but also my outside game. I’m glad I was able to go there and experience that.”
One of the most evident in Mbala’s improvement was his shooting from beyond the arc, where he buried two-of-four three-pointer in their win over the Falcons.
“I didn’t stop working on them when I left for Afrobasket. I was really working on it during off-season. I just feel like I needed the confidence to be able to take them and make them,” the 22-year old added.
La Salle Head Coach Aldin Ayo, the rest his coaching staff and his wards expected that Mbala will deliver and the superstar just proved that he is a brute force in the league—although he committed eight of his team 26 turnovers in his season debut.
However, Ayo took their third straight victory as a “bad win.” He pointed out that the team’s immaturity and lack of execution is still a work in progress that allowed Adamson to rally in the second half and threatened for a comeback.
“Actually, I told the boys that act as if nothing happened. Act as if Ben never left, act as if we played without Ben,” Ayo said. “But we know that when Ben was away, we have gained a lot as a team, and Ben also gained a lot as an individual player. So it’s just a matter of putting things together and work on it.”
“The good thing is Ben is already here. We’re already complete and we can start moving forward, working on our team chemistry and working on our team to peak,” he added.
Despite the one of a kind debut, Mbala is still looking forward for his continuous improvement in other areas, especially his whole team bannered by Aljun Melecio, Ricci and Prince Rivero, Kib Montalbo, Abu Tratter, Santi Santillan and Andrei Caracut.
“It’s the third game of the season,” Mbala said. “We still have a lot of time to work on our mistakes and find a way to improve and not commit it during the succeeding games.”
Image credits: Stephanie Tumampos