UAAP Preview: The hard part begins for the De La Salle Green Archers

Winning a championship, even in a tightly-contested league like the UAAP, is easy if you compare the hardships a team has to go through to defend it.

The De La Salle University Green Archers regained their lofty spot atop the UAAP after they defeated the University of Santo Tomas Tigers in the finals last season. The Archers looked pedestrian in the early part of last year’s UAAP competitions but when they found their groove, there was no stopping them.

After winning the championship, the Archers chose to retool their lineup and make it even better for the title-defense bid. And as always, led by their head coach in Juno Sauler, the Archers are veering away from the narratives and are instead focused on the process.

Weeks before the UAAP season opened, the Archers had their usual two-hour practice at the ninth floor of the Enrique Razon Sports Center. Assistant coach Allan Caidic was holding a whiteboard marker, writing the scores of the Archers for their free throws. He smiled at every 8, 9, or 10. He shook his head when one of their bigs got a five. His fellow assistant coach Jun Limpot was on the sidelines taking a breather after doing low-post drills.

Sauler was in the middle of the court, silent as usual, thinking of ways how he could make his already strong team better.

“So far, everything is okay,” Sauler said. “May injury lang si Julian Sargent but he’ll be ready by Monday.”

For Sauler the key is to have the same mindset as last season, the same hunger and the same willingness to undergo a process.

“There’s no change in our mindset. It’s a basketball game. It’s a basketball season,” the coach said succinctly. “We’re not changing anything.”

“No starting five yet. We don’t know yet,” said Sauler when he was asked if he has already decided on a starting unit. It’s easy to understand why. With a team as loaded as his, it’s really difficult to choose a first five.

Norbert Torres, Arnold Van Opstal, Jeron Teng, Almond Vosotros, and Thomas Torres seem like it’s a good bet for a starting five. But then you can sit out any of the bigs for Jason Perkins. You can slide Teng to the two-spot and play a huge lineup with Yutien Andrada at the three. You can even assign Sargent at to play point.

Ask any other coach in the UAAP and they’d tell you this is a good problem to have. The Green Archers look great on paper that few noticed the absence of veterans Luigi De La Paz and Oda Tampus from their roster.

“All the teams are tough,” said Sauler after he was asked which team could pose as the biggest threat to their quest for back-to-back UAAP titles. It was a safe answer, but underneath it was sneak peek into La Salle’s mindset.

They’ll run their own race. They’ll set their own standards. And at the end of the day, they believe their way will end up being better than everyone else’s.

While the other seven UAAP teams are busy scrambling to get taller, La Salle has it in abundance. Van Opstal, Torres, Perkins, Andrada, and even rookie Abu Trotter could do damage inside the paint. However, Sauler still maintains that his team will push the tempo at every opportunity.

UE, FEU, NU, and UST all have their imports to match up with La Salle’s dominant frontline but Adamson, UP, and Ateneo are not as lucky. This early, Blue Eagles head coach Bo Perasol has already installed the Archers as the team to beat because they are at least two-deep in every position.

With a lineup as stacked as the Archers’ and with a championship already under their belt, it’s hard not to install them as favorites to win it all again.

While other De La Salle faithful are already calculating if it’s possible to get a 13-1 or even a 14-0 record, Sauler and the Archers refuse to put numbers on their goals.

“It’s always process oriented,” Sauler closed. “We’re not too high on results compared on how high we are on how we try to do things.”

In the upcoming UAAP Season 77, they will need to run the same process. The big difference is that they will have a huge target behind their backs. Winning one showed that La Salle has a good team. Winning another one means they're ready to build another dynasty.