With the likes of Jerom Lastimosa and Didat Hanapi gone, Nash Racela knew entering the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament that this batch of Adamson Soaring Falcons would not be the most talented.
Instead, Racela’s game plan was to drag their opponents down with relentless defense – and so far, it’s working.
Behind back-to-back wins against the University of the East and National University, Adamson’s Final Four hopes are taking flight at the right time.
In both victories, the Soaring Falcons allowed a stingy average of just 39 points per game, leaning heavily on their hard-nosed defense to stymie their opponents.
Now, with their postseason dreams still alive, Racela sees a real chance for Adamson to sneak into the Final Four.
“Important lang is buhay pa kami,” Racela said after their recent win.
“That’s something we’ve been telling the players. Before the game, we talked about the alignment of the stars. But if we don’t do our part, it will not happen. That’s the challenge we gave them.”
Racela, who led FEU to a UAAP Season 78 title, has always found ways to make the most of Adamson’s strengths.
Despite their talent gap against some of the more loaded teams, Racela knows that defense is Adamson’s ticket to success.
“We all know and we admit that they are all more talented than us,” he acknowledged. “The only way to counter that really is playing good defense.”
One Falcon who has embraced the mentality to a tee is AJ Fransman, who delivered a career-best performance with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday’s 69-56 victory over NU.
His double-double effort shattered his previous career high of 14 points and nine rebounds, and it exemplified the grit and determination that Racela has preached to his team.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“Pinapanood namin yung other teams, and we were monitoring how they fight and who’s winning,” Fransman shared.
“Sabi nga ni Coach Nash, the stars are aligned for us, but we just have to do our part. We can only control what we can control. We took that to heart and I’m happy that we were able to deliver.”
Fransman’s growing confidence is a direct reflection of his understanding of the system Racela has instilled.
“Lagi long nilalagay sa isip ko yung sinasabi ng coaches, na we just have to do our part. Yung games namin, kaya namin kontrolin. I think I’m slowly understanding what the coaches want,” he added.
As of now, Adamson sits in fifth place with a 5-7 record, just one game behind the University of Santo Tomas in the battle for the last Final Four spot.
Their next matchup against UST on Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre will be crucial for both teams’ postseason hopes.
In the first round, Adamson defeated UST 69-56, and Racela is hoping for another win to bring them closer to their goal.
“The beauty about the second round schedule is time,” Racela said. “After today, we play on Saturday, which means we could give our players some rest, and we have a couple of days to prepare for UST. That’s a very crucial game for us.
“If we want to give ourselves a really good chance, that’s a game we need to win. Again, time is on our side. We’ll study the match-up carefully and hopefully, our players will embrace our game plan.”
