Green Archers still a couple of players short, admits Danding Cojuangco

DE La Salle has made great strides in terms of personnel this season, but top patron Eduardo 'Danding' Cojuangco admitted the current team is a couple of players short of becoming top title contenders in the UAAP.

Cojuangco has been widely credited for La Salle’s resurgence, having been responsible for the recruitment binge that brought in high school standout Jeron Teng from Xavier, Kib Montalbo from Bacolod, and even Cebu-based Cameroonian center Ben Mbala who will be eligible to play for the team in two years.

But Cojuangco admitted the 2013 team still needs an upgrade for the Green Archers to challenge for the UAAP championship.

“I think kailangan namin ng players,” Cojuangco said in a brief chat with Spin.ph after La Salle’s 56-63 defeat to National University at the end of its first-round campaign in the eliminations.

“Kulang talaga sa tao,” he added.

Cojuangco knows his basketball, having been the country's cage godfather during the successful run of the NCC-backed national teams in the eighties. He had also been behind the multi-titled San Miguel and Ginebra teams in the pro league.

The Green Archers had an up-and-down first round, finishing with a 3-4 win-loss slate to join Adamson and archrival Ateneo in fifth place.

But the Taft-based squad is still very much in contention as they are only one game behind joint second placers University of Santo Tomas, National University, and University of the East.

The San Miguel Corporation chairman, however, is not giving up on the Archers, insisting the players will give it their best shot down to the very end.

“I think they played their best,” said Cojuangco, a can't-miss presence at the La Salle bench during games. "I think they will try their best until the end."

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