Expansion team Ilagan Isabela Cowboys had quickly caught the fancy of competing squads in the MPBL 2025 Season, particularly its marquee player, Arth dela Cruz, who is now beginning to make his presence felt as one of the fastest emerging stars in the growing nationwide league.
The second generation cager led the tournament in rebounding average, pulling down 11.3 rebounds per game after nine games in the elimination round backstopping the Cowboys.
But while Dela Cruz is turning out to become the most notable Cowboy, head coach Louie Gonzalez believes the team collectively needs to work as a unit and must do a better job making a good start.
“We cannot start out flat,” Gonzalez told Pinoy Step. “Hindi kami pouwedeng mkag-give up ng 28 first-quarter points. Kasi alam namin, we’re not that deep. Pero as long as magtatrabaho kami, magko-compete kami, pero hindi puwedeng malubog talaga kami sa umpisa. Ang hirap. Mabuti nga nakabalik kami, we were able to trim down the lead and imagine kung hindi kami nagkaroon ng bad start, baka nanalo pa kami.”
In their previous 83-90 loss to the Gen San Warriors, the Cowboys trailed by as many as 16 points, 6-22, yet were able to bounce back strong and compete.
Still, the 14 three-point shots the Cowboys had given up proved to be too much and Gonzalez and his troops need to go back to the drawing board to asses the improvements they need to do.
