Mga laro ngayon:
(Mall of Asia Arena)
10:30 a.m. – NU vs FEU (Men
12:30 p.m. – UE vs Ateneo (Men)
4 p.m. – UP vs DLSU (Men)
DADAGITIN ng defending champion Ateneo ang ika-6 na sunod na panalo habang sisikapin ng last season’s runner-up University of the Philippines na mapatatag ang kapit sa No. 2 spot sa UAAP men’s basketball tournament ngayon sa Mall of Asia Arena.
Natatanaw na ang first round sweep, itataya ng Blue Eagles ang kanilang walang dungis na kartada laban sa University of the East sa alas-12:30 ng hapon,l habang makakasagupa ng Fighting Maroons, na nasa three-game roll, ang La Salle sa alas-4 ng hapon.
Bubuksan ng Far Eastern University at ng wala pang panalong National University ang isa pang weekday tripleheader sa alas-10:30 ng umaga.
Ang Ateneo ang tanging koponan na wala pang talo na may 5-0 marka, habang nasa ikalawang puwesto ang UP sa 4-1, kalahating laro ang angat sa walang larong University of Santo Tomas, na may 4-2 marka sa ikatlong puwesto.
Bagama’t ang Red Warriors ay malapit sa ilalim ng standings sa 1-4, walang balak si coach Tab Baldwin na magkumpiyansa.
“I’ve seen UE a couple of times. They’re dangerous like every team in the UAAP. They’ve had a good win, people think it’s a surprise win but I don’t think there are too many surprises in the UAAP this year. All the games are close, competitive so again our challenge is to learn as much as we can about UE’s system over the next couple of days and most importantly, through the whole preparation time period is to respect our opponent,” ani Baldwin.
“We can’t take anybody lightly and it’s disrespectful and I don’t think we want to be characterized as a program or a team that’s disrespectful to anybody or anything in our game. We know that we have to earn respect on our end and we freely give that the other way because we don’t want to get caught unprepared,” dagdag ng Kiwi-American mentor.
Inaasahang ire-reboot ni Rey Suerte, ang main man ng Warriors, ang kanyang opensa makaraang malimitahan sa season-low four points sa 2-of-15 shooting sa pagkatalo sa Maroons, 56-62, noong Sabado.
Batid ni coach Bo Perasol ang lakas ng Green Archers sa kabila ng 2-3 record nito.
“Siyempre iba naman itong La Salle ngayon. We all know the kind of personnel that they have. Susubukan naming mag-improve pa rin from our previous game, which is this game. And I hope we can be better to make sure that we have a chance against a powerhouse team like La Salle,” ani Perasol.
Winalis ng Maroons ang Green Archers sa kanilang elimination round head-to-head noong nakaraang taon tungo sa pagtamo ng breakthrough championship appearance.
Galing sa morale-booster 68-61 victory laban sa Adamson noong Sabado, umaasa ang La Salle na ito na ang simula ng lahat upang tunay na maging Final Four contender.
