With momentum on their side, the National University Bulldogs were tipped to take care of business against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, who are one of the UAAP Season 85 Men’s Basketball Tournament’s bottom teams.
However, the Tamaraws had other plans and they managed to upset the Bulldogs, 47-44, to bring their campaign back on track much to the frustration of NU mentor Jeff Napa.
“We f—-d up. Simple as that. That’s why we lost this game. I expected they will come out strong pero yun nga, give credit to FEU,” said the 41-year-old mentor.
“We bled talaga sa mga gusto namin mangyari pero siyempre, a loss it a loss. It’s my fault. At least we have to grow coming into second round especially dun sa mga decision na kailangan namin, gagawan namin ng paraan.”
Napa watched from the sidelines as the Bulldogs failed to execute a free-flowing offense the whole game and their lapses on defense gave the openings L-Jay Gonzales and Bryan Sajonia needed to make the plays needed to secure the Tamaraws’ second win this season.
Results like these can make or break one team’s season and the former Colegio de San Juan de Letran head coach wants his players to rise from it.
“[Di siya] wake up call pero sa akin, challenge eh. Yun lang sinabi ko sa kanila. Di ko na sinabi sa kanila na wake up call,” said the three-time UAAP juniors champion. “Chinallenge ko pa rin sila na if they want to be a big time player, they make sure that they have to commit as one, not I. Yun yung kailangan.
“This game kase we let FEU dictate whatever na ginagawa sa amin eh then someone will f— up. That’s why FEU got that W. Yun yung challenge ko sa kanila coming into second round especially I think UP ata kalaban namin eh.”
After every game, Napa constantly talks about NU needing to improve all the time to be one of the UAAP’s “big boys”.
There is still a lot to play for this season and the Bulldogs simply have to go again to prove they can be one of the main contenders in this Season 85.
“Yung uphill climb, yun yung sinabi ko sa kanila eh, if we want to go to the peak dun sa Mt. Everest na yun, kailangan kung gusto nila maging big time players, they have to commit maging two-way player,” said Napa.
“Kung hindi magiging two-way player, it’s hard for them to be recognized as one of the big boys. Yun yung challenge ko talaga sa kanila para coming to second round, they’ll be ready.”
