By: Ohmer Bautista
Alvin Pasaol has been on a tear, making it rain in University of the East Red Warriors’ first two games ahead of their match-up against De La Salle University Green Archers, Sunday evening.
But despite coming off a 36-point outburst against the pesky defense of the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, the high-volume scoring of Pasaol was nowhere to be found in the first three quarters of the tiff between the Red Warriors and the Green Archers.
And according to the UAAP’s 49-point man, the culprit for his poor performance during the three-quarter stretch were his early foul troubles.
“Siguro, walang masiyadong na-convert nung first quarter, second quarter kasi foul trouble,” Pasaol confided, as he had a measly five points in three frames.
After seeing his sour performance over that stretch, one would say that he was having a bad night. But UE head coach Joe Silva thought otherwise, saying that when he unleashed the Baby Tank in the penultimate frame, he knew Pasaol would immediately bounce back and contribute.
“Well, he was well rested kasi he got two early fouls so noong dulo, pahingadong-pahingado siya kaya gumawa siya,” the first-year Red Warriors head coach reminded.
From that point onward, the scintillating Pasaol was back in stride, weaving his magic whenever he got a hold of the ball.
By the end of the game, he finished with 22 markers, 17 of which came in the fourth – outscoring every total output of every player fielded on the court during the last 10 minutes in regulation.
Still, his offensive onslaught was a tad late, as the Red Warriors were unable to crack into the Archers double-digit lead, and eventually absorbed a 72-82 defeat to mire them in the abyss of the UAAP rankings with a 0-3 start.
For his coach, he cannot afford his prized-player to commit early fouls, saying: “I told Alvin that hindi pwedeng ganun nilalaro niya, hindi pwedeng he will pick up two useless fouls – especially [a] technical foul.”
And in order to address this predicament, Pasaol’s adjustment will have to come from within.
“Siguro i-aadjust ko yung sarili ko sa mga calls ng referee. Ayun nga, i-aadjust ko sarili ko.”
