In a rare occurrence, Ateneo Lady Eagles head coach Tai Bundit entertainer media people’s requests for an interview.
Although his English comprehension is still a work-in-progress the former Thailand youth national team mentor fully expressed his thoughts on the upcoming Ateneo-La Salle Finals.
Bundit has led the Lady Eagles to the UAAP championship in the last two seasons, taking down the Lady Spikers both seasons in the Finals.
Bundit, who is 8-5 against the the Ramil De Jess-led La Salle, saw undeniable hunger this season to beat the Lady Eagles.
“This year, La Salle a better team (compared to last season),” Bundit said. “I’m thinking that they really want to win,” he continued.
How about Ateneo? Do they want to win?
“(Not enough) to want to win. Ateneo needs to believe they can win,” Bundit answered.
A constant fixture scouting in venues scouting every match, Bundit observed that, over the past few seasons, La Salle has emulated his ‘Happy-Happy’ approach
“I’m very happy to see La Salle team dancing,” Bundit told reporters. “I’m very happy to see that they follow Ateneo.”
Before reporters caught up to Bundit, he was putting his Lady Eagles through a very rigorous training, even allowing Ateneo’s championship Men’s team to scrimmage with the ladies.
“If Ateneo not train hard, (we) can’t win. (I want to see) when the girls play, they are not thinking, they should just go along with (the) flow of the game,” Bundit explained.
Bundit shunned the thought that La Salle was an easy team to beat last year when Ara Galang was out with an ACL tear. This year, Bundit thinks that the Finals is a toss up and the outcome depends on who plays better during the matches.
“Ateneo is bette, La Salle is better – alike in tactics, alike in training. (It depends) on the player who is better during the game.”
If Ateneo can pull off a win in Game One on Saturday, 4 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Bundit believes Game Two is a “can-win”.
“If (we) win Game One, Game Two can-win.”
