What makes great teams great is the consistency that they show to whoever the opponent is on the floor.
That is what Adamson head coach Nash Racela wants to impart to his players as they go through their second round campaign in UAAP Season 84.
However, the Soaring Falcons failed to heed the call after making several errors in the closing stages of their game against the Growling Tigers on Saturday morning.
In the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, Adamson committed five turnovers which allowed UST to cut the lead from 23 down to nine. Despite the threat by the Growling Tigers, the Soaring Falcons were still able to stop the bleeding by milking the clock to run away with an 80-69 victory.
“I had to talk to the team first, kailangan ko silang sermonan. I don’t think they respected the opponent today.
“We weren’t consistent in playing, especially at the start nung first half. I thought that in their minds, they could win just by stepping on that court,” Racela lamented. “It showed that UST is a tough team. If you don’t play them with respect, tatalunin ka nila.”
The champion mentor also claimed that his players need to learn from their mistakes and work towards preventing them from happening again in their upcoming games.
“You don’t want that at this time, especially ang next game mo would be Ateneo. That’s why in the dugout I told them na they need to understand that we are preparing them for bigger things, hindi lang ‘yung game today,” he continued.
“That’s something that kids now need to learn and really absorb – the sooner the better.”
Adamson’s latest win over UST stretched their winning streak to four to remain undefeated in the second round thus far. The victory also allowed the Soaring Falcons to solidify their position in the standings.
They gain momentary solo fourth position with a 5-6 record.
Despite adding another win to their tally, Racela thinks that rewarding his players with ice cream can wait another day.
“They don’t deserve ice cream after their game today.
“Actually, I was planning on rewarding them with ice cream. May sponsor na nga ako eh, for their ice cream,” he quipped. “With the way they played today, I don’t think they deserve it. You only give them what they deserve.”
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