As it currently stands, Lyceum of the Philippines University is the hottest team in the NCAA Season 99 Seniors Basketball Tournament.
On the road to their undefeated start for the season, the Pirates upset the two finals contenders in season 98 – College of Saint Benilde and Colegio de San Juan de Letran – and knocked off this year’s dark horse contenders, the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA.
Their first three matches were as tight as could be, with each of the games coming down to the fourth quarter. In their matchup against Letran, Lyceum even needed a game-winning layup in the dying seconds from John Barba to seal the deal.
Against San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Tuesday, Lyceum was met with their lightest challenge yet, earning their first double-digit victory of season 99 in an 83-72 bout.
Though they won by their largest margin yet, Lyceum coach Gilbert Malabanan expressed disappointment in his squad, a disappointment that was absent in their first three victories.
Malabanan believed that the team lacked joy in their matchup against the Golden Stags, leading to the whole squad starting out slow in the matchup.
“Kahit sino naman ‘yung kalaban namin, kung hindi naman kami mag-eenjoy maglaro, kung hindi kami maglalaro as a team, bale wala rin ‘yung panalo namin. Mas gusto ko ‘yung nananalo kami na lahat nag-eenjoy. Yung deserving talaga lahat,” said Malabanan.
Malabanan sensed the lack of joy in his Pirates squad from the opening tip and hopes it won’t be a trend in future matches.
“Nanalo kami, pero as you can see, hindi ako masaya eh.
“Nararamdaman ko as a head coach, mararamdaman mo iyon sa mga players mo. Buti na lang it’s early, it’s early pa lang, and kailangan ko i-trust iyan sa kanila,” Malabanan shared.
On the Pirates’ end, Malabanan believes that the lack of satisfaction does not come from overconfidence but more on the team as a whole taking their foot off the gas pedal.
“Nakikita ko lang flat lang kanina. ‘Yung start ng third and fourth flat lang, ayoko sana ‘yung nagre-relax kami. 4-0 kami, pero kailangan pa rin namin pagtrabuhan eh, kasi this is not our goal,” he explained.
“Our goal is to go to the top sa finals.”
Malabanan and his Pirates squad will battle against the winless Arellano University on Friday at 2:00 p.m. at the Filoil Ecooil Centre. There, Malabanan hopes he sees his squad regain the joy and trust in one another that they played with in their first three matches.
