TNT Katropa head coach Nash Racela has built an image of not being afraid to speak up his mind when he needed to. But in their loss to San Miguel Beermen this time in the 2017 Governor’s Cup, the first-year pro coach held back for a bit.
“Too many turnovers for us. Too many fouls committed also. We had 26 turnovers, we had 31 fouls that led to 28 [SMB] free throws,” rued Racela after their 91-97 loss, Wednesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The numbers spoke for itself. The Katropa’s 31 fouls led to 28 charities, and the Beermen then obliged to knock down 19 of it. Point guard Chris Ross had the most number of free throws, as he went 5-of-6 from the line.
The Katropa, on the other hand, made just 8-for-8 shots.
“Naka-eight naman kami,” responded Racela with a grin, upon being asked regarding the huge disparity.
“It’s hard. We just have to learn to adjust. Ganun talaga,” he added, trying his best to pacify himself from telling more,” the young mentor furthered.
Racela was asked once more, this time regarding the fourth quarter collapse TNT had. This time though he kept himself mum, and simply gave out another wide grin.
The Katropa will play their next match this coming Friday versus the Alaska Aces. Racela is expecting another tough game ahead, knowing that the Aces are hard-pressed to halt their historic 11-game losing skid.
“They’re a tough team to play,” opined Racela. “Alam namin na naghahanap sila ng panalo. They’ll do everything they could to break that losing streak, so mahirap silang kalaban ngayon.
“First thing is we need to recover first from this game para makapaglaro ng maayos against Alaska.”
