The Far Eastern University Tamaraws showed everyone why they are the team to beat this season with a massive win against DLSU, 75-93. After a few days of reflection, we’re able to dissect the game more clearly.
The Archers allowed FEU 9 uncontested shots where they made 7, and were out rebounded by the Tamaraws, 53-40. But beyond that, it was generally speaking, a closer match than what most people saw. The 20-0 run in the end of the 3rd quarter exposed massive lapses by the Archers, and ultimately decided the game with FEU up 77-54 with 10 minutes to go.
Decisive Run
Before the run, the Archers were battling the Tamaraws and matching up with them with great efficiency only down by 4 points after a Teng jumper with a little over 5 minutes to go. They managed to match-up very well against FEU for the entire game up until that point.
The 20-0 run of FEU can be attributed to several factors
Archers gave up too much space for FEU shooters
The narrow zone of the Archers forcing the Tamaraws to shoot from the outside. More often than not, the players would be on an average 15 feet away from the basket making it difficult for FEU to score on the inside, by threatening them to shoot from the outside. They had 5 open looks from 3 and made 4 of them. They were 7 out of 9 for Wide Open shots – The Archers gave up 5 of them in a span of 5 minutes.
In this photo, you will see that the Archers average position is around 15 feet from the basket which the Tamaraws exploited on wide open shots. They can simply pass it out to one person and kick out for a wide open shot which was the case.
5 DLSU players inside the box is never a good idea
FEU also exploited the use of the Archers rookies in the line-up with Navarro and Langston being played in particular. FEU took advantage by using the zone to their advantage, and the slower reflexes of the rookies in defending
A time-out was called by FEU around the 3:10 mark upon the introduction of Prince in the DLSU line-up. By that time, FEU was up by only 10 points.
From the 4:48 mark of the 3rd quarter all the way to the 3:10 mark, only Caracut, Perkins and Teng held the ball. The Archers played 2 isolation plays, 1 play the passed to Perkins for a missed 3, and one posession where all 3 of them held the ball
Navarro got to handle the ball a little more during this period but it was often a single pass to Caracut or Teng who would do an isolation play, or a bail-out to Perkins who will shoot for three.
The Archers only executed one play that was not an isolation or a bail-out three and Prince missed it inside.
Inigo hit 2 three pointers towards the end of the game which caused a 6 point swing with 42 seconds to go. While FEU made a decisive run, 30% of their points came in the last 42 seconds of that 5 minute run.
Statistics Tell the Story
Ultimately, the telling story of the game was that the Archers made only 8 assists as compared to FEU’s 22. That’s at least an additional 28 points for the Tamaraws as compared to the Archers who made the extra pass.
Teams are now letting the Archers shoot from the outside making only 2/14 from 3, against UP, the Archers only made 3 shots from 3 point land.
FEU also had 8 blocks, and we were thoroughly out-rebounded (53 v 40) despite the fact that the Archers only had 15 turnovers as compared to FEU’s 22.
At halftime, the stats were so much closer but still, the Archers only had 4 assists as compared to FEU’s 11. The bread and butter for the Archers is still inside unless they can begin hitting their 3’s more constantly.
Final Thoughts
What seemed to be a close game was decided with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. What could be said here is perhaps the players were indecisive and wanted to score quickly rather than execute plays. This is seen by the amount of times the players did an isolation instead of passing it around looking for the open shot. This is reminiscent of our game against NU where when we were holding a big lead and were very confident, we passed the ball around waiting for a good shot but as they were cutting the lead down, it was all isolation basketball.
Once Coach Juno said that college basketball is a game of runs. The only way to counter a run is not but forcing the issue but rather, by continuing to execute down the stretch even if a team is up big. This mental fortitude is seen in teams like San Antonio Spurs, the 5-peat Blue Eagles under Norman Black, or even under Manchester United under Alex Ferguson who knew that would always score right at the end. It’s something that will take time to learn but something relevant for a young team like La Salle. Execute, follow the plays and trust the system.
You can go faster alone, but you get further together.
Animo La Salle!