Alvin Pasaol on defense of MVP Ben Mbala: ‘Not bad’

MANILA, Philippines – When you’ve scored 49 points against a team before, you’re allowed to be confident against them.

If you’re the team who got scored 49 on, however, you really need to fix that problem next time out.

That is exactly what happened in the second round rematch between the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers and University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, where the champs emphatically shut down the feisty 7th seeded Red Warriors, 99-78.

The one man who could not be emphatically shut down, however, was that 49-point man and the new talk of the town, Alvin Pasaol, who still tallied a respectable 23 points and 9 rebounds against the imposing defense of versatile center-forward Ben Mbala.

As of October 22, Mbala (26.5 PPG) and Pasaol (22.2 PPG) hold the first and second spots, respectively, in the scoring leaderboards for Season 80.

Sure enough, after the game, the 6’3″ Pasaol said he didn’t sweat the 6’7″ star in front of him.

“Okay lang naman,” he said. “Siguro mai-intimidate ka rin, sobra lang talaga siyang malaki. Siya 25 [points] ‘ata eh, 23 ako. Not bad naman.”

(It was okay. I guess you’d also be intimidated; he’s just so big. I think he got 25 points and I got 23. Not bad.)

“Tao lang naman din siya eh, nagkakamali rin siya,” Pasaol added. “Tinake ko lang din yung advantage.” (He’s just a man and he also makes mistakes. I just took the advantage.)

La Salle’s heartthrob highlight machine Ricci Rivero can also attest to Pasaol’s offensive prowess, saying there’s no one way to guard the bulky but deceptively quick UE star.

“Actually, kay Pasaol kasi, straight up ka lang talaga eh,” he said. “Di ka puwedeng parang force right mo siya or force left kasi both sides, nakaka-penetrate siya. May catch and shoot tapos off the dribble, nashoo-shoot niya, and may post din, so kailangan talaga honest D lang.”

(Actually, with Pasaol, you have to go straight up. You can’t force him to his right or left side because he can penetrate both ways. He can catch and shoot, shoot off the dribble, and shoot from the post too, so you just have to play honest D.)

Back to business, Pasaol said they cannot allow themselves to be intimidated again in their next match against 10-0 Ateneo, where one more loss means they would be eliminated from Final Four contention.

“Di naman mananalo yung isang team kung hindi magtutulungan,” said the UE stalwart. (A team won’t win if they don’t help one another.) – Rappler.com