CAN Mason Amos change the trajectory of La Salle this UAAP Season 88 men's basketball tournament?
Mike Phillips sure hopes so.
The graduating captain expressed his excitement to welcome back the Fil-Aussie big man knowing how much work Amos has put in his recovery from his MCL injury.
"He's been working really hard. I think day after that [incident], he's already in the weight room doing a lot of work," he said.
READ: FEU stays alive as Mongcopa game-winner stuns La Salle
"I see him and he works out during our practices, so I'm very confident in his ability to come back because he just has that mindset and it's really in connection with the team. So we're praying and we're excited to have him back."
Though there's no timetable yet on when Amos can return to the court, he has been vocal in his desire to make up for lost time after missing the last six games for the Green Archers.
And that's just the kind of good news that La Salle needs especially after losing back-to-back games, the last of which a shock 84-83 loss to Far Eastern U last Sunday.
Never Shall We Fail
For Phillips, it's just a matter of putting those frustrations in the rearview all the more with three games still left in the Taft side's schedule and their Final Four fate still very much in their control.
"We can't really carry these feelings into the next game solely because it's so tight and we know that the road ahead is gonna be rough," he said, with this defeat sending the Green Archers down to a 6-5 record yet still very aware of the close proximity of the teams in the standings.
"We need to learn as much as we can first from this game and then flip that switch and focus on the next one."
And Phillips said that these begin with one thing: belief.
"We can lose everything except our faith: our faith in God, our faith in the system, and our faith in each other. In La Salle, we have that phrase, 'Never shall we fail,' and it's not that we're not going to lose and we're not going to not face adversity, but I think you truly lose when you don't get back up. That's the La Sallian spirit," he said.
"We have to show that spirit the most when you're down. We just have to make that decision every day to get up and fight every single time because it's all you got and it's all you can do."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
