Aroga downplays duel with Mbala in NU loss to DLSU

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Alfred Aroga downplayed his duel against Ben Mbala and said that his focus was on the teams rather than the individuals.

“Basketball is not one versus five,” Aroga said after NU fell to La Salle, 75-66 on Sunday.

“There’s no matchup in this league. People always talk about match-up. It’s La Salle versus NU. I don’t really care about that.”

Aroga underwhelmed in the game, finishing with only two points and three rebounds in the Bulldogs’ first loss of the season.

In comparison, Mbala helped the Green Archers stay unscathed as he notched a double-double of 16 markers and 15 boards.

But Aroga made it clear that his numbers are the least of his concerns.

“Every time I go in a game, my mindset is NU versus this team. I don’t like talking about match-ups. It’s never one versus five. It’s this team versus this team. I’m focused on what I have to do to help the team win. I don’t like to think about match-ups,” he said.

“I’m not an individual player. I’m a team player.”

Leading by as much as nine, 52-43 in the third quarter, NU squandered the lead and allowed La Salle to make a furious comeback in the fourth.

The 6-foot-7 Cameroonian, though, believes it’s a case of the bad breaks catching up with the Bulldogs at the wrong time.

“I can say off-day. They’re a pretty good team. They’re big, but they’re beatable,” he said.

Aroga also added that NU shot itself in the foot with 29 turnovers.

“We’re right there, but because of turnovers, we lost the game. We got out of the system during the crucial part of the game.”

The third-year center, though, is keeping a positive attitude as he believes that the Bulldogs can bounce back in their next game against Adamson on Wednesday.

“We shall move on to the next game. I’ll just focus on the next game,” Aroga said.