A FEW times this season, De La Salle has been turning to rarely used strategies in a bid to win games.
Sunday was no exception.
In an effort to break University of the East's dreaded full-court press, La Salle employed a time-tested inbound play where the designated inbounder, instead of putting the ball in play, passes the ball to a teammate who becomes the new inbounder.
The play is perfectly legal and used several times in both the PBA and NBA, but rarely nowadays in the college league.
There was even one inbound when Jeron Teng and Thomas Torres passed the ball to and fro in an effort to throw off the UE press.
Spin.ph asked UAAP game officials about the strategy later and they made it clear that La Salle’s move was perfectly legal under Fiba rules, which the league also adhere to.
“Puwede ‘yun pero hindi kasi ginagawa ng mga teams. ‘Yung papasahan, dapat he has to establish his position first,” said one game official.
The game official, however, said what La Salle did could only be done following a conversion by an opponent and not after deadball situations.
Early in the season, the Green Archers have also resorted to fouling players out of play in the final moments of the game, which is another legal strategy not usually done by UAAP teams.
Game officials explained the strategy is also allowed by Fiba rules, so long as the ball is already in play. Otherwise, such play merits an unsportsmanlike foul.
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