Joshua Yerro has emerged from his shell in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
His past two games were the most recent evidence of his breakout, resulting in back-to-back wins for Adamson University.
The fourth-year guard from Ormoc, Leyte, received the Player of the Game honors in their 63-54 victory over Far Eastern University last week and against the University of Santo Tomas on Saturday.
He contributed 11 points and three rebounds against the Tamaraws, while recording 17 points, four assists, three rebounds, and a block against the Growling Tigers. He had a plus-17 rating during his 24 minutes on the floor.
For Yerro, it’s all about playing his role for the Soaring Falcons, especially without their top gun, Jerom Lastimosa.
“Kailangan ko lang talaga mag-step up sa team, lalo na senior na ako sa team. ‘Yun nga sabi sa akin ni coach, palagi dapat maging composed ka lang, maging stable sa loob ng court,” said Yerro after their win over UST.
Head coach Nash Racela always knew that Yerro had that game in him. It was just a matter of time.
With Yerro’s timely eruption, the Soaring Falcons rose to 5-5, holding onto the fourth spot, with Ateneo de Manila University closely following at 4-5. They are chasing De La Salle University, which has a 6-3 record.
“I think he’s settling down. ‘Yun nga sabi niya he just needs consistency because in the first two years that we coached him, medyo ano siya, maybe jittery when he plays,” said Racela.
“Sometimes, he’s too fast for his own good, sometimes he goes hard a little bit too much. Pero sabi ko nga once he tones it down a little bit, magiging okay siya.”
Racela did not panic when it took a while before Yerro finally performed as expected. After all, this is not his first time coaching such a player.
The third-year Adamson coach recalled what it was like handling players from Visayas and Mindanao and how they slowly adjust to life away from their comfort zones.
“He needs to be consistent, and ito, lagi ko sinasabi sa kanya, players that we had before sa FEU, sila Roger Pogoy was like him, ganyan din sila Roger. Roger actually settled down in his last year at FEU,” said Racela.
“Yan mga galing kasi ng South, ganyan talaga ang tendency nila, pero you know their capabilities, may gift yang mga yan pero he just needs to tone down a little bit.”
Those good games, however, will not stop Yerro from striving for further improvement. Instead, all he thought about after the win is how he can be better on the court.
“Siguro maging consistent lang kami and matuto sa mga maling bagay, ‘yun nga ‘yung sinasabi ni coach, na may mga kaunti pa rin, lalo na sa fourth quarter, ‘yung mga last minute,” said the 23-year-old guard.
