Going into their Tuesday afternoon tilt against the Mapua Cardinals, the struggling College of Saint Benilde Blazers had a different look. Instead of having their stylish, gelled up hair, the young Blazers instead sported shaved heads, reminiscent of the De La Salle University Green Archers’ past tradition of doing the same during losing skids back in the 2000’s.
And this came after the Blazers’ 78-92 road loss against the Letran Knights.
“Nagulat din ako nun e. I was coming in sa practice and I didn’t know anything about it,” said first-year head coach TY Tang, who was part of those fabled La Salle squads that started this collegiate tradition.
“They just had the commitment to themselves.”
Third-year gunner JJ Domingo disclosed that it was Saint Benilde skipper Gerard Castor who had pitched this idea.
“After ng game against Lyceum, nag-dinner kami, yung team captain namin si Gerard, talagang siya yung nandiyan e,” shared the former FEU Baby Tamaraw. “Napag-usapan namin yun, sinabi niya, guys kung manalo tayo sa Letran game di tayo papakalbo, kung matalo naman lahat tayo papakalbo
“Actually pinagalitan pa niya ako, kasi mali yung sa akin, pinatakbo pa niya ako sa training. Dun mo makikita yung leadership ni Castor sa loob at sa labas ng court. Kami nirerespeto namin siya. Kaya lahat kami ginawa namin yun.”
With the young team having a rallying point, the Blazers, a team that had only had one win under its belt prior to Tuesday, played inspired basketball, rallying back from 15 down to stun the Mapua Cardinals. Domingo tallied his career-high during the game. while Clement Leutcheu and Edward Dixon both picked up double-doubles.
For Tang, it just shows that the culture he and his coaching staff are trying to build is slowly bearing fruit.
“Maybe it’s a symbol of unity and character in terms of building themselves, playing and building together whatever happens.
“That’s one thing the coaches are really happy about. Di mo makikita yun through certain players. Not all players do that,” the former pro declared. “But they are willing to sacrifice everything just for the common goal and that’s to start winning games.
“Hopefully this will be a morale booster for us, in terms of character that no matter what happens, down forty, down twenty, up by one up by twenty, we’ll finish the game with a lot of attitude and pride.”
