MANILA, Philippines -- Off to disappointing starts in the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball wars, holder National U and aspirant Ateneo look back at what went wrong in the opening weekend and try to make quick corrections before they take the court again.
The Bulldogs lost to La Salle, 63-67, in a game that saw them trail by as many as 15 before unleashing a fierce uprising in the payoff period while the Eagles got sideswiped by Far Eastern, 64-88.
“There’s no fluidity in our offense. I felt we weren’t able to execute our game plan very well,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano, who nonetheless was happy with how his wards ended the game. “We need to reform, make sure we stay fundamental with what we’re doing.”
Alfred Aroga was rendered ineffective by foul woes and it hastened the Bulldogs’ fall.
“We really don’t have the depth this year. We just have to teach Alfred to be disciplined not to foul and hopefully, our bench will step up everytime he’s out of the game,” said Altamirano.
Eagles mentor Bo Perasol said the blowout loss to the Tams, one of the strongest contenders to the crown, was a “slap in the face” that should wake up his young crew.
“We really felt the strength of FEU. But at the same time, I also felt in the beginning we had doubts if we can beat them; we were just going through the motion. We could have done a better job defensively, we played lackluster defense,” he said.
“But it’s good in a way this happened against the best team. At least, we felt the slap in the face. If there’s something we need to address this season, we need to do more, or else the stronger teams are just going to play us around,” he added.
Skipper Kiefer Ravena erupted for 25 points but other than Gwynne Capacio’s 14, there was hardly any help in production.
“I need to get some production from the guards like Von (Pessumal) or the others I field in. Kiefer can’t do it all by himself,” he said.