Former Far Eastern University Tamaraws head coach Nash Racela had always preached self discipline and control during his five-year stay in Sampaloc. And it’s the same mindset that his brother Olsen Racela has emphasized to his troops.
But Saturday afternoon, the Tamaraws’ start against the Adamson University Soaring Falcons was lackadaisical, to say the least. Then when they faced a huge deficit, things turned for the worse.
“Pumasok sa ulo namin yung winning streak, yung three game winning streak namin na hindi naman dapat ganun. We didn’t do the things that we were supposed to do,” shared coach Olsen after their 79-95 loss that dropped them to fourth in the standings.
“Sabi ko nung last game hindi ako natutuwa sa winning streak, mas natutuwa ako sa nilalaro namin that led to that winning streak.”
When the Tamaraws could not turn it up, the young team decided to get testy against the Soaring Falcons. The problem was that they got too rough.
Both Arvin Tolentino and Ron Dennison were slapped with unsportmanlike fouls in the third frame after hits on Tyrus Hill and Papi Sarr respectively. Hubert Cani was also called for a flagrant foul in the final quarter.
“After the game kinausap ko siya na kailangan ng disiplina. Hindi pwedeng ganun. Buong team sinabihan ko kasi andami naming second motion. Disiplina yun sa paglalaro e,” pointed out Racela, who is one of the finest floor generals the country has produced.
“When you’re down, hindi lumalabas ang katapangan mo sa mga extra motions e. We lost our discipline in this game.”
But what frustrated the 46-year-old tactician the most happened with 7:20 left in the game. After Tolentino crashed from a tough screen set by Dawn Ochea, the 6-foot-5 forward tried to boot Ochea, who fell as well. And it happened right in front of the game officials, resulting in his ejection.
“Baka suspended pa si Arvin, and then baka ang next game pa namin is, dahil sa scheduling, top four ata maglalaban so baka mabigat pa ang kalaban namin,” lamented Racela, as Tolentino is currently averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Tamaraws.
“It’s not about him, it’s about the team, ngayon magsu-suffer ang team dahil sa ginawa niya.”
Still, the rookie head coach is content with where they are in the standings right now, and hopes that this game will serve as a harsh lesson for Tolentino and the rest of the Tamaraws.
