Naveen Ganglani
MANILA, Philippines – With 1:07 left in the third quarter, Adamson star freshman Jerrick Ahanmisi hit a 3-pointer to get his Falcons within 11, 61-50, of the DLSU Green Archers.
The scoreboard still showed that Franz Pumaren’s new team had a double-digit deficit to overcome to catch up with his old school, but Ahanmisi’s jumper was enough to wake up Adamson’s crowd and instil some concern on the greener side of the MOA arena.
The fear, if any, was short-lived. Seven seconds later, La Salle’s own prized recruit, Aljun Melecio, focused his eyes on the rim, blocked out the image of the hand of an Adamson defender aiming to swat his shot from behind, and let it rip. Swish.
With 33 seconds left in the period, Melecio tipped a Terence Mustre pass, raced to the other end of the court, received a dish from teammate Kib Montalbo, and converted a reverse lay-up. Just like that, the lead was back to 16, and the game didn’t really feel in jeopardy for the Green Archers the rest of the way.
“I don’t want to embarrass Coach Aldin [Ayo] for the confidence he shows in me. I want to show that it’s really worth it,” Melecio told Rappler in Filipino about the trust that’s being given to him, just 5 games into his UAAP senior career.
De La Salle is 5-0, the only remaining unbeaten team in the UAAP in Season 79. Truth be told, no other UAAP school has come close to matching these Green Archers, and that’s with their head coach believing they’re still 25% away from reaching top shape.
Scary? Absolutely. La Salle is loaded from top to bottom; a defensive juggernaut that personifies the team’s mantra of “mayhem” with the potential to explode on offense at any given time as well. Ben Mbala is a stud, and Jeron Teng remains this team’s Mr Constant. The rest of the supporting staff, from the impressive return of the “steady” Montalbo up to the vast improvement of Abu Tratter, has been complementary. (READ: Aldin Ayo’s confidence erases the doubt for Abu Tratter)
All of that was expected, especially after how DLSU went undefeated in dominant fashion during the Filoil preseason tournament.
But the rise of the team’s rookies, who look like major contributors already at such an early stage? That’s been quite surprising.
“We need everyone to be ready,” Mbala told Rappler during a private moment following their win over Adamson. That’s exactly what his freshmen teammates have been.
Whether it’s Melecio, who scored a career-high 13 points and hit a trio of 3-pointers; Baltazar, who had 7 points and 9 rebounds in only 15.7 minutes; or Ricci Rivero, who didn’t get much run against the Falcons but was clutch in La Salle’s last win over NU, the new kids on the block have been stepping up in the moment and giving their veteran teammates a run for their playing time.
“Kasi si (With) Aljun, parang (he’s like a) switch eh. Every time I call a play sa kanya (for him), he delivers,” Ayo said.
“Pag swinitch-off mo, wala (You can’t switch him off). But if you switch him on, talagang magpapakita (he really shows up). Even Ricci.”
Baltazar, a 6-foot-8 big man with a wingspan comparable to a foreign recruit’s, had his own shining moments against Adamson, even if it wasn’t as sexy as Melecio’s long-range bombs or Rivero’s baseline, side-step, and dagger versus the Bulldogs.
With 9:31 left in the fourth period, Baltazar rebounded a Teng miss. Montalbo then took a shot and it rimmed off, but there was Baltazar again to clean it up, leading to a scoring opportunity for Teng. With 8:51 remaining, Melecio missed a jumper, but, unsurprisingly, there was Baltazar to collect another offensive board thanks to relentless activity.
Those were 3 offensive rebounds in 40 seconds, which was even more impressive considering Adamson’s big man Papi Sarr was also in the paint. Compare the bodies of both guys, and you could never imagine such a result.
“After practice, Justine always stays in the gym, always works on his game, and always [tries] to get stronger by lifting. He always goes up to me and asks me tips – rebounding, posting up,” said Mbala.
“He really wants to learn and improve so he keeps working hard.”
Mbala currently leads the UAAP with an average of 16.8 rebounds a game, so having Baltazar go to him for instructions is a great idea for La Salle and not so much the other 7 schools in the UAAP. With that tutelage comes the basics of being great on the glass, but more importantly, the little secrets to grabbing those crucial boards.
For example: after practice, Mbala likes to sit down on the bench and watch his teammates shoot around. Is it fatigue? Not exactly. The Cameroonian big studies how each of his teammate likes to shoot, more specifically where the ball usually lands on the floor if it’s a miss.
“It’s about getting a good position and knowing how your teammates shoot,” Mbala explained.
The result of those one-on-one sessions were on display over the weekend, where Baltazar gave glimpses of not only what he can do for La Salle this year as the team is favored to crush the competition and win a title, but also of how dominant he can be as he develops even further into his career.
“I see him playing in the national team and being a [Raymond] Almazan-type of player. I really think he can be that good,” said Mbala.
This isn’t to say that what these 3 rookies are doing was totally unexpected. After all, Melecio was last season’s UAAP juniors MVP – where he put up explosive numbers in a number of games – while Baltazar came in second and won Finals MVP after leading the NU Bullpups to the title over, ironically, Melecio’s Junior Archers.
Rivero, meanwhile, averaged 25-8-2-2-1 last NCAA juniors season with La Salle Greenhills and would have been league MVP, had an ejection during a game in the first round not made him ineligible to win the award. Moreover, his high-flying highlights during exhibition games – especially during Steph Curry’s Manila tour last year – improved his stock.
But there was also a transition period expected for all 3 players before they became reliable contributers. Melecio’s 5-foot-7 height was a concern, and so was his adaptation to bigger and stronger opponents in the senior rank. Baltazar was a late shoo-in the line-up; a necessity after JBoy Gob was lost to a torn ACL injury. Rivero looked like he needed improvement with his fundamentals.
All 3 players, who have the potential to be UAAP superstars, have accelerated their developmental process.
“Medyo (a bit),” Ayo answered when asked if even he was surprised by how quickly the young blood has been contributing.
“Those guys naman, they have the confidence eh, kasi (because) I make sure na 'yung (those) 15 guys na 'yun, whatever happens, talagang maglalaro lang sila nang (they’ll just be playing) basketball.”
“Before the UAAP,” Melecio recalled, “I just told myself [to do] whatever I can contribute – either to set the team or scoring points, which would be really lucky. Now that the points are coming, it’s like a bonus for me.”
What he’s doing for the Green Archers has also been a major bonus for the team, which has met its heavy preseason expectations and has the potential to even surpass them. There was the belief entering the UAAP season that La Salle was going to be great; that there was no more-expected team to win a UAAP championship in recent memory.
The rise of these rookies might end up making DLSU even greater than initially imagined. – Rappler.com
