What’s wrong with the NU Lady Bulldogs?
by rick olivares
The most underachieving team in
the UAAP (per potential, money pumped into the program, and recruiting) has
fallen into form. And that’s their underachieving and maddening form.
They won three straight then lost
the next three to fall to an even 3-3. However, if you look at it as a whole,
even in two of their wins, they didn’t play well and that was against the
bottom dwellers Adamson and UE.
So were they good at all despite
winning the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference?
Yes, they are. The question
surrounding this team for the past few years was their mental fortitude. I have
postulated before that for NU, they perform well when there are far less
expectations.
When they won the SVL Collegiate
Conference, truthfully, no one knew how good they’d be because they were coming
off losing Myla Pablo and another disastrous UAAP stint. They played with a joy
in their faces in a pressure free situation.
So what’s wrong?
There’s the lack of mental strength. We’ve gone through that.
Jasmine Nabor isn’t 100%. Playmaking-wise, she’s all right. She had
52 excellent sets to Alina Bicar’s 30 yesterday. Granted that Bicar tag teamed
with Alexine Cabanos so that affects her overall stats. In the game against
FEU, Nabor once more had 55 to the 47 of Gel Cayuna.
Hitting-wise, there’s a
remarkable drop in her attacks.
Vs. UE – 5 points
Vs. Ateneo – 8 points
Vs. Adamson – 3 points
Vs. La Salle – 1 point
Vs. FEU – 2 points
Vs. UST – 1 point
Nabor healthy and also scoring
gives NU another dimension. She has approximated when Rubie De Leon as a guest
play gave to the Lady Bulldogs. Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game.
Three, other players who are not performing well. To be precise,
Jorelle Singh and Joy Doromal.
During their SVL title run, Singh
averaged 9.7 points. In her stint with the Laoag Power Smashers in the most
recent Reinforced Conference, she averaged 15.3 points for her side.
Against UE, Singh scored 12
agonizing points. The one game she played well was against Ateneo where she
scored 16 points. Then there’s the drop off…
Vs. Adamson – 7 points
Vs. La Salle – 5 points
Vs. FEU 7 points
Vs. UST – 7 points
Singh can jump but has problems
consistently hitting the ball downwards. Far too often it sails out and wide.
Then there’s Joy Doromal.
Vs. Adamson - 2 sets,
1 point
Vs. La Salle - 3 sets,
0 points
Vs. FEU - 1 set, 0
points
Vs. UST – 1 set, 0
points
Doromal played well during two
conferences in the last SVL season.
While Aiko Urdas is getting more
playing time now, the contributions aren’t much. It should come from those who
were in-form heading into this UAAP season. As for Risa Sato, the jury is still
out on her contributions.
And fourth, Gayle Valdez needs to
play better. All of a sudden, she’s become shaky again. Joni Chavez was thrown
in yesterday and she looked a little surprised she started. Her expression upon
the introductions was, “Me?” She had good moments and forgettable ones. But
Gayle is the veteran. She should find away.
The loss to UST last Wednesday that saw them drop all the
way to sixth spot. Fortunately for them, only one win separates them from FEU
and UP although UST has leapfrogged over them by virtue of its win. The Lady
Tamaraws and the Golden Tigresses will separate from one another when they meet
on Saturday.
Now, there’s still a lot of volleyball to be played ahead.
However, you do not want to get too far behind in the pack.
Head coach Roger Gorayeb was calm and quiet. He simply asked
the players to reach deep within themselves. And they have to figure all of
that out because their next opponent is UP that is also in a funk after a great
start.
A loss for either side will be tough.
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