Head Coach: Marco
Januz "Juno" Sauler (2nd season)
Last Season:
Champions (10-4 in the eliminations)
#2-seed
in the Final Four; beat FEU in one game in the Final Four
beat
UST in the Finals, 2-1
Key Losses: LA
Revilla, Luigi dela Paz, Gabby Reyes, Jarelan Tampus
Holdovers: Jeron
Teng, Almond Vosotros, Jason Perkins, Arnold Van Opstal, Norbert Torres, Thomas
Torres, Kib Montalbo, Matt Salem, Robert Bolick
Key Acquisitions:
Yutien Andrada (returnee), Julian Sargent, Terrence Mustre, Prince Rivero, Abu
Tratter
The Coach Says:
“My expectation for us is to play good basketball. I don’t believe in rankings and favorites. What’s more important is how you conduct yourselves during the season, during the games, and hopefully, whatever it is you want to get, you can get to that destination. We want to play good basketball. Wherever that will take us, then we’ll accept that.” – coach Juno Sauler
The Players Say:
“May pressure din sa amin kasi champions, kasi out of all the teams, kami yung team to beat. Na-feel namin na kami yun this season, because last year’s defending champion (Ateneo), sila yung target ng lahat.” – Jeron Teng, forward
“No expectations. Sakto lang, walang gaanong pressure. We’ll just promise na we will work harder time times ten than last season.” – Almond Vosotros, guard
“People are out there to get us. But we’re just getting focused on getting better as a team. We’ll be doing all we can to execute better. Every team will be a challenge.” – Jason Perkins, forward
X-Factor: Almond Vosotros
If there’s someone who has saved La Salle for a number of
times in the past year or so, it’s no less than Almond Vosotros.
The 5-foot-10 killer will be playing his final year for the
Green Archers, and it seems like coach Juno Sauler’s stoic demeanor which comes
with his no-nonsense approach to the craft has already rubbed off to Vosotros.
“Sakto lang,” he said, when he was asked on the team’s
expectation for this season.
“Honestly, si Coach Juno, the way he talks sa team, he’s
very inspirational. Bihira lang siya magsalita ng marami, as in few words lang
talaga. Pero talagang mage-gets mo kung ano yung point niya, kung ano gusto
niya sa team, kung ano ang gusto niya para sa amin at para sa future,” Vosotros
said.
And it really helps that being the floor general is like
being the team’s coach on the floor.
Aside from embodying Sauler’s persona in the hard court, you
better expect the 24-year-old guard to once again hit a number of those
backbreaking shots, not to mention being the squad’s anchor on offense and
defense.
If someone’s going to end his collegiate career with a bang,
expect Vosotros to be a sure shot at it, the same way La Salle expects his
treys to go in every single time.
Prognosis:
No doubt, La Salle is overwhelming favorite to repeat this
season.
With a virtually intact lineup and an athletic cast of
rookies coming into the fray, coach Juno Sauler will have an impressive roster
at his disposal.
Already loaded from point guard (Vosotros, Thomas Torres,
Kib Montalbo, Robert Bolick), wingers (Jeron Teng, Jason Perkins, Matt Salem),
to the big guys (Arnold Van Opstal, Norbert Torres, Yutien Andrada), the Green
Archers will also get a big boost with the inclusion of swingman Julian Sargent
and hardworking forward Abu Tratter.
But despite the downpour of praise rained to La Salle,
Sauler has always reminded his boys on the importance of constant improvement,
and at the same time, shutting down the talks of them being the number-one team
when Season 77 tips off.
Aside from the nitty-gritty of their playbook, the coach of
a few words also wants to see more of the team’s consistency in their
performance, as even though the Green Archers have won the Filoil preseason
tilt, it showed times when the team tended to be sloppy and did relaxed when
they owned big leads, costing them games in the process.
Though La Salle is convinced that their back-to-back
championship aspirations would not be a walk-in-the-park, if their team, which
is oozing with potential, can get its bearings together and live up to their
hype, the Green Archers will be a very, very hard team to beat this season.
*****
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