It took four crushing losses, but finally, Joe Silva has won his first UAAP Men’s Basketball game. And it came in the most unexpected fashion.
“No, never namin inexpect. Ang gusto lang namin talaga coming into this game was to get that win. ‘Yung winning margin just came because the boys worked hard,” reflected Silva, who was trying to catch his breath.
“They really wanted to win, the desire was there.”
Coming into the University of the East Red Warriors’ tilt against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, absolutely no one predicted that the Red Warriors would completely dominate their arch-rivals on all fronts. Why not? UE had lost their last four games by an average margin of 27.25 points.
Against a senior-laden Tamaraws squad, the young Red Warriors pushed. They pushed harder than ever.
“Hard work pays off. I just told them, ‘Work hard, the results will follow’. We’ve been working hard, and I told the boys coming into the dugout, ‘You deserve to win already’,” beamed Silva, a two-time UAAP Juniors Basketball champion coach. “We’ve been playing well, we’ve been practicing well, we’re a family, so it’s time to take what you deserve.
“They showed it today.”
The youthful tactician made several adjustments in the game, the most notable of which was bringing ace scorer Alvin Pasaol off-the-bench. But even as the lead grew and grew, Silva did not stop coaching. He needed to, as he did not want his players to have even a memory of what had happened to them during the first 160 minutes of their UAAP Season 81 campaign.
“Once you lose, it’s hard to get your players to play hard and to get your players to believe that they can win especially when wins aren’t coming,” he shared. “I just told them to stick to the system, trust the process and your hard work will pay off.
“It’s been a learning process for all of us, and the system showed today especially on defense.”
Once the final buzzer sounded, Silva could finally rest. That elusive victory will be written in the history books as a 25-point win.
“At least the monkey is off my back as a coach. Ganito pala ‘yung feeling na manalo ng first game mo sa college. Sobrang blessed and humbled ako. Buti nanalo na kami, at least. It’s a relief.”
But come Monday, he’ll get back to work with his team.
