La Salle’s Ben Mbala throws down an emphatic dunk against Ateneo in the UAAP Season 79 men’s basketball tournament Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016, at Mall of Asia Arena. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Motivated to bring back the championship to Taft, Ben Mbala gave his La Salle teammates an assurance at the beginning of the season.
“If you see me, throw it in the air and I’ll take care of the rest,” he said.
Seven games into the season, and the Cameroonian big man is repaying the trust of his teammates in the form of rim-rattling dunks, none bigger than the highlights he unleashed in La Salle’s dominating 97-81 victory over rival Ateneo on Sunday to complete a first round sweep in the UAAP Season 79.
“I was lucky enough that my teammates told me to run the floor and they’ll throw it up,” Mbala said after posting 28 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, and one block.
A portion of those points came from dunks, none more memorable than his huge fastbreak slam off a pass from Thomas Torres. Though that unglued fans out of their seats, Mbala shared he and Torres have been working it for quite a while now.
“We’ve been working it in our fastbreak drills. We’ve done that more than a hundred times,” he said.
But Mbala clarified that though he’s glad to wow the crowd with his slams, his main priority whenever he takes the court is to play defense, just like what his coach Aldin Ayo ordered.
“It’s not like I go to the game and think about making dunks,” he said. “I go there thinking I want to play defense. That’s the way we think in La Salle, with our mayhem. The first thing we think about is defense. Then when we get stops, we run. If you’re wide open, go for it. Coach is trusting us with our decision making.”
Averaging 20.7 points, 16.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 2.1 blocks through seven games, Mbala has definitely separated himself from the field.
Make no mistake, the 6-foot-7 Mbala still seeks to improve his game, especially his 1.4 assists and lessen his 5.1 turnovers.
“I don’t have a lot of assists during the games, so I want to get my teammates easy and open shots. I also want to trim down my turnovers,” he said.
“Individual success comes with team success. I don’t really think about awards and other stuff. I think about the team first and the rest will follow.”