Racela on FEU loss to La Salle: This is on me

MANILA, Philippines — FEU guard Ron Dennison said the team's newcomers may have not been mentally prepared for the high task of taking down La Salle on Sunday night. 

 

But new head coach Olsen Racela begged to differ.

 

“Ang balik nun ay sa coach,” he said of Dennison’s take. "Maybe I did not prepare them well enough. And this is on me.”

 

FEU had a sloppy start in their tussle with the defending champions. And we need not look far for proof. They were outscored, 29-11, in the opening salvo. The Tamaraws were able to level with the Archers in scoring, but it wasn’t enough to put their foes in the driver's seat when the buzzer sounded.

 

"You just have to be ready every time we play La Salle,” Racela noted. "We started out flat and that cost us the game.”

 

"Ang sinabi ko lang naman sa kanila is we should learn from this. It shows kung nasan kami ngayon — malayo pa kami even from Final Four contention,” he added.

 

And while Racela rues the opportunity to kick off their bid on a winning note, he also offered that he understand his wards' predicament.

 

"'Yung sa practice, sa preseason, that’s different eh. Dito sa UAAP, pag naka-tapat na, naka-on na 'yung ilaw at puro cameras, tapos ang daming tao, iba na eh,” he stressed.

 

“As a coach when you lose, you look at the positives eh. 'Yung second half 'yung postive samin eh,” he added. "But ayun nga, if you can play that way from the very start, masmaganda ang mangyayari samin ‘di ba?”

 

Racela and the Tamaraws will try to rebound from their opening-day loss when they take on the 0-1 University of the East this Wednesday at the Big Dome.