La Salle faces Mike Phillips-sized void in UAAP title defense

STAR. Jacob Cortez in action for the La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP Season 88 men's basketball finals. UAAP La Salle has relied on Mike Phillips as its heartbeat on both ends of the floor, but with 'Motor Mike' now gone, the Green Archers need to find answers from within their roster as they try to defend their crown MANILA, Philippines – La Salle’s title defense begins with a glaring question: who fills the void left by Mike Phillips? The Green Archers have relied on Phillips as their heartbeat on both ends of the floor. With the now-Gilas Pilipinas stalwart gone, La Salle needs to find answers from within its roster, which still boasts plenty of championship experience, as it tries to defend its crown. “The most important thing right now is to find how to fill in the shoes of Mike [Phillips],” La Salle assistant coach Caloy Garcia said during the UAAP Season 89 press conference on Tuesday, September 8. Phillips led the Green Archers to two UAAP championships and ended his collegiate career in emphatic fashion, dominating for 25 points on 12-of-17 shooting and 18 rebounds to help La Salle clinch the Season 88 title. Phillips was also La Salle’s vocal leader and its glue guy, helping the program navigate a transition between eras, from Kevin Quiambao to Jacob Cortez. “Mike has been a big part of our team in the past few years. As a culture setter, he’s able to just bring everyone together to one purpose,” said new team captain Earl Abadam, who is entering his final UAAP season. Replacing Phillips’ presence in the middle will be new foreign student-athlete Mo Kulang, with returning big man Henry Agunnane providing additional support. With Phillips anchoring the frontcourt, La Salle often went without a foreign reinforcement for long stretches last season. The Green Archers will now be challenged to find a new formula. They will also have to do it without Kean Baclaan, Rhyle Melecio, and EJ Gollena, all of whom were part of last season’s championship squad. That puts even more responsibility on holdovers Cortez, Abadam, Mason Amos, Luis Pablo, and Doy Dungo. Cortez, in particular, will be asked to shoulder a larger load. The son of La Salle legend Mike Cortez took over several games for La Salle last season, especially in the Final Four, and will once again be expected to lead the charge in his final year in the UAAP. Lebron Jhames Daep, Bonn Daja, and Seven Gagate also bolster the Green Archers’ frontcourt. Meanwhile, their biggest addition came in the form of Gilas Pilipinas Youth standout Joaquin Tovera, who had initially committed to UP before enrolling to La Salle just last month, giving the defending champions another promising piece for their title defense. La Salle knows the road back to the finals will not be easy, after UP added Veejay Pre and UST made several notable additions of its own, including a collection of one-and-done recruits. The rest of the league has also reloaded. Still, Garcia believes a healthy La Salle roster can contend with anyone. “It’s going to be anybody’s race this year,” Garcia said. “I think the most important thing is to try to be healthy during the season. We’re just hoping that we can be healthy and try to give ourselves another chance again.” The Green Archers, however, did not exactly have an encouraging preseason. La Salle absorbed defeats to UAAP rivals UP and NU, as well as NCAA reigning champion San Beda in the FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup. The Green Archers also fell to the Adamson Soaring Falcons in overtime at the Roxas City Invitational Tournament last month. But La Salle chooses to treat those losses as lessons rather than warnings, as it allowed the coaching staff to experiment with new systems, adjust its schemes, and find the right formula for the games that truly matter in the UAAP. “During the preseason, we tested several new systems,” Garcia said. “As coach Topex [Robinson] said, it was the best opportunity to experiment. We tweaked both our offense and defense. In every league we participated in, we kept making adjustments to find the right formula for the UAAP.” “Following the Roxas league, our training has become more organized. Everyone knows we are known as a defensive team, so that is where we are focusing our efforts.” Now, the Green Archers have to prove they can do it without Phillips, who once held everything together for them. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading