De La Salle already has an established front court of Justine Baltazar and Santi Santillan that take up most of the minutes, but there are times that head coach Louie Gonzalez draws one big man from the bench that puts on a game-changing performance.
Enter 6-foot-9 Brandon Bates, who gave the Green Archers a big lift in their 65-57 win over Far Eastern University in the second round of the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament.
Bates played for more than 19 minutes against the Tamaraws and had a solid output of seven points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks and all those marks were higher than what he usually gets.
“I’m not too confident in myself but the coaching staff are the ones who have confidence in me and they push me to step up not necessarily become the top scorer but just step up which is nice,” said Bates Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Bates, prior to the Green Archers’ game against the Tamaraws, averaged just 2.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 17.7 minutes of play.
Gonzalez said he was proud of what Bates did for the Green Archers especially as they held on to the third spot with a 6-4 record.
“This is what I want from him, and this is the team that I pictured that I want my players to always do their best to help the team,” said Gonzalez in Filipino. “It was Brandon’s time, the guy will do everything to help the team, he’s a winner and that’s why he’s a part of this team.”
Bates, who embraces his niche as a role player, said he just kept himself ready and did all his pre-game routine the same way he has done the whole season.
“I just go in every game with the same mindset, and I also got coffee before the game,” said Bates.