After almost three years, Jamike Jarin found himself on the hot seat of a head coaching position at a UAAP member school.
Formerly in charge of National University, Jarin took over University of the East after its head coach, Jack Santiago, found himself suddenly suspended after allegedly telling his players to hurt University of the Philippines’ Ricci Rivero.
The one-time NCAA champion looked at home manning the Red Warriors from the bench. Truly, being the head coach anew was something that did not look out of place for Jarin.
“We knew that we were gonna play today,” said the eight-time UAAP High School Boys’ Basketball champion. “Yesterday we just found out that we won’t be able to have our head coach. Of course, knowing coach Jack, he prepared these young men to do battle in the UAAP.
“It was an off-balanced situation for us but we are still proud of these young men that we were able to compete against FEU today.
“Hats off to coach Olsen (Racela) and to his staff and their players for getting the victory. We gave it our best but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. We will keep learning and eventually, we will get those wins,” he continued.
Throughout the contest, FEU’s Xyrus Torres, who ended up with 26 points, scorched UE from the perimeter with 8-out-of-15 shooting. A 6-20 deficit at the end of the first quarter spelled doom for the Red Warriors as they just couldn’t get their groove.
After falling by as much as 23 points, the Red Warriors got back in the game with 33.7 seconds left in the third period courtesy of Jose Antiporda’s three. Ultimately, it was a false dawn as UE struggled to match up against center Emman Ojoula’s dominance in the paint.
“Mr. Torres really played well and I take the blame for that because he made eight (three-point shots). I failed in that part, for me as a coach, I failed in that part. He made some tough shots. I take the responsibility for that. But we’re improving every game,” said Jarin.
“If you look at the stat sheet, we lost in the first quarter but eventually, we competed in the next quarters. So there are some good signs. Because of us being a young team, just need to learn from every game and eventually get those wins.”
Things do not get easier for the Red Warriors. After five matches that ended in futility, they will be up against a team Jarin knows all too well – Ateneo de Manila University.
With the Blue Eagles juggernaut not running out of steam anytime soon, it looks to be another long afternoon for the Red Warriors. But these challenges are simply part of the process.
“We know that they’re riding a 30-game winning streak and they’re playing in a while. Of course, Ateneo with coach Tab Baldwin and the rest of the coaching staff, they’re the best program right now in the Philippines,” he said.
“It’s gonna be a very, very tough game on Thursday but we will compete. We will definitely compete and we will fight it all together. We need to rest our bodies and have to move on because we play on Thursday.”
Come what may, Jarin is banking on the hopes that his and Santiago’s wards will mature into the players they believe these young cagers can be. The road ahead is difficult but they are fully buying into the process.
He has faith that things will come good in the end.
“If you watch our games, it’s a little bit exciting kasi nakikita namin mga puso ng mga player. We still lack the maturity but eventually, we will get there.”
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