The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Jeron Teng
Without a doubt, Jeron Teng leaves La Salle with one of the best resumes a student-athlete could ever have. His five-year run with the Green Archers ended with two UAAP crowns, four Mythical Five inclusions, a Rookie of the Year award, and two Finals MVP to boot.
The journey though of one of the most celebrated recruits in La Salle history was rocky to say the least. And he needed to dig deep in his final year to achieve the destiny set to him by the La Salle faithful.
The Commitment
It was on January 31, 2012 when Xavier School standout Jeron Teng committed to play for the De La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP.
Back then the Green Archers were coming off one of their worst showings in the UAAP. With a respectable win-loss record of 4-3 in the first round of Season 74, La Salle ended up losing six games in the second half its campaign to end up with a 5-9 slate.
No loss stung more that season than the 62-79 dismantling at the hands of arch-rivals Ateneo Blue Eagles. La Salle needed to revamp its basketball program as it lagged behind schools such as Ateneo, National University, and Far Eastern University.
During that time, Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. had just returned as the main benefactor. Gee Abanilla was then named head coach with fellow ex-Archers such as Jun Limpot, Mac Cuan, and Juno Sauler serving as his assistants.
However, nothing excites any sports fan more than a new recruit.
The Green Archers were crying out for a go-to-guy in its lineup, someone to take up the mantle of King Archer which was sorely missing ever since Jvee Casio last played in 2008 and Teng was seen as a potential heir.
Hopes were high for Teng in La Salle. It energized the Lasallian community and increased excitement for the upcoming season. If a guy who once scored 104 points in a high school game is going to Taft, then surely that’s a good thing?
“Malaking bagay sa amin si Jeron kasi siya lang talaga yung blue-chip this year unlike last season na nandoon sila Bobby Ray Parks at Kiefer Ravena,” opined Abanilla that time to Interaksyon.
Teng would eventually live up to the hype in his inaugural UAAP season.
He nailed a buzzer-beater against his brother’s University of Santo Tomas squad and looked very much what the Green Archers lacked the previous year. For his efforts, he was crowned Rookie of the Year and was part of the All-UAAP team for Season 75.
The Sibling Rivalry
If Teng’s rookie year turned out well, then his sophomore year in Season 76 was simply better. Now led by Sauler, La Salle was able to reach the Finals for the first time in five years. He was instrumental to that run as he averaged 14.5 points in the 16 games leading up to the big dance.
Standing in La Salle’s was UST.
Both schools had multiple finals duels in the past and have yearned to reclaim the championship, yet the bigger storyline was Jeron vs Jeric in the Finals. La Salle succumbed to a 72-73 loss in the first game, but managed to force a do-or-die game with a 77-70 victory.
Everything boiled down to Game 3 on October 12, 2013 in the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. With the stakes so high, Teng produced a masterful performance against the Growling Tigers as he made 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
La Salle was finally champions once again after six seasons and Teng was named Finals MVP for the first time after his vital contributions to the Green Archers’ cause. Amidst all the elation around him at the green gallery, the whole experience was a bittersweet scenario for the former RP Youth team member.
“When the buzzer sounded I really didn’t know what to feel. On one side we’re champions, but on the other side, I feel my brother’s pain. He played his heart out, he deserves to be MVP,” said the younger Teng after the three-game classic.
Suddenly, all seemed right in La Salle.
From being a laughing stock two years ago, the Green Archers were champions once again and Teng was at the center of it all.
Sauler signaled the Green Archers’ intention to defend the crown while the La Salle faithful hoped to emulate Ateneo’s run of five straight championships.
The Naked Truth
Season 77, though, proved to be an inconsistent season for the Green Archers and it all boiled down to a Final Four best-of-three series showdown against FEU.
La Salle knocked FEU out en route to winning the championship in the previous year and the latter wanted revenge. On the eve of the first game series, however, Teng and Arnold Van Opstal participated in a fashion show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izkx0O7G1L8
FEU went on to beat La Salle 65-60 and all the blame was directed towards Teng and Van Opstal. Teng made eight points, eight rebounds but also five turnovers in a 2-for-11 shooting show. The backlash was such that Alvin Teng felt the need to defend his son from the furore.
“Pag rampa niya dun, isang ikot lang naman iyun, saka siyempre, naka-commit na siya dun last year pa lang kaya matagal nang naka-schedule iyan,” reasoned out Alvin Teng to SPIN.ph.
The patriarch then shared his younger son wasn’t 100 percent healthy.
“Mga three days and two nights siya saka si Jeric sa ospital, kaya siyempre, medyo wala lang siya sa timing.”
Although La Salle won the next game to force a do-or-die game, FEU clearly had its number. Destiny simply wasn’t on La Salle’s side on October 1, 2014 as Mac Belo sunk in that infamous trey with just seconds left on the clock to dethrone the Green Archers and advance to the finals.
The naked truth was that all hopes of going one better than the four-peat years of 1998-2001 were dashed. What started out as a season full of promise ended with one of painful defeats in recent years. Van Opstal never played for La Salle in the UAAP afterwards while Teng remained a scapegoat.
The Deepest of Holes
Disappointment lingered on towards Season 78. It was as if the Green Archers suffered from some sort of post-traumatic stress because of Belo. Unfortunately for Teng and the rest of the Green Archers, the situation went drastically south come the new campaign.
At that stage, some of the Green Archers’ ardent observers lamented the supposed lack of ball movement whenever La Salle played on the court. The chief suspect of which was Teng who they deemed as a ball-hog whose only goal was to raise his stats every game.
The Green Archers struggled to put up a winning run that season. Perhaps no game summed up their campaign better when they succumbed to a 74-75 loss at the hands of the Adamson Soaring Falcons which hastened La Salle’s inability to reach the Final Four.
Perhaps in an effort to deflect criticism away from Teng, Sauler urged the Green Archers to deliver more on the offensive end of the court.
“The opponents’ defense siyempre is adjusting on him,” explained Sauler.
“They are really focusing on Jeron especially in the fourth quarter. The challenge for the team is to find who will step up for Teng in the most crucial points of the game. Other guys have to step up for him.”
Teng averaged 18 points 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists that season in statistics which backed up claims that the ball was in his hands most of the time. Ultimately, La Salle failed to reach the Final Four for the first time in four seasons. A hollow consolation for Teng was another Mythical Five award.
“Definitely I’ll be back stronger next year.
“This year I’ve learned a lot of lessons and I’ll be carrying it out to next year. Hopefully, we’ll have a better season,” Teng vowed.
The King Archer Fulfills His Destiny
Out went Sauler and in came 2015 NCAA champion coach Aldin Ayo who looked to install his 40-minutes of mayhem basketball to La Salle.
A lot of people queried how Teng would fit in. Teng, they said, didn’t have the aggression and defense to play in Ayo’s press. Ayo, though, saw things differently.
The Letranite used Teng as one of the pillars of his team alongside center Ben Mbala. With Mbala and Teng as the spearheads, the Green Archers conquered all in front of them in Season 79.
And then it was all about destiny.
Standing in La Salle’s way was Ateneo. The last time the Green Archers ended the elimination round with a 13-1 record was in 2002, the infamous year a fifth-straight championship was denied to them by the Blue Eagles.
Circumstances were exactly the same. La Salle was the heavy favorite and that its one loss in the regular season occurred in lopsided fashion by Ateneo. Pressure was in La Salle’s corner in this one and everybody knew it.
Come Game 1 of the Finals, La Salle led throughout the contest only for Ateneo to keep on hanging on. The Blue Eagles eventually earned a 64-65 lead courtesy of Matt Nieto with only 34.6 seconds remaining in the ballgame.
Up stepped Teng.
If there was one Green Archer who never shirked away from his responsibility and capability to win a game these past five years, it was Teng. Teng blitzed past Ateneo’s defense to score the winning basket and he did so with ease to regain the lead at 66-65 and prevent armageddon.
The Taft-based squad eventually won 67-65 and was just one game away from the title. Alas, everybody knows what happened then and there in Game 2. Teng played his last game like a man possessed as he produced 28 points to help bring the title back to La Salle in a 79-72 victory over Ateneo.
That performance earned Teng his second Finals MVP award in the UAAP became some sort of vindication as foe and ally alike saluted him after the game.
“Jeron today was unbelievable. He was clearly the MVP.
“He was the guy they went to. They recognized that their title hopes lie on his shoulders, and he delivered. I thought all of their guys did a great job and they’re an outstanding group of players. They played outstanding and we did our best to make it tough, to some degree we did, but they were the better team,” commented Ateneo mentor Tab Baldwin.
“He came out ready. He was ready to shoot,” Mbala said.
“I told him I’m expecting them to clog the lane and double team on me, so if you’re open, take it. I cannot win it all by myself. This is the finals, he played great and I’m happy for him to go out with a Finals MVP and a title.”
Teng sat on a ladder with the hoop’s net on his neck deemed as a hero. He ended his Taft journey on top of the collegiate basketball world, proving his doubters wrong and fulfilling his destiny.
It was easy to forget that he was a maligned figure in the Green Archers’ past two campaigns. The man was a finisher of moves rather than an instigator of plays and perhaps had the right to cash in on his fame, albeit with questionable timing.
Not that Teng needed to reply to those comments.
“Next year, ang hirap humanap ng Jeron Teng,” surmised Ayo.
