MANILA, Philippines — Aldin Ayo and the UST Growling Tigers had an urthodox approach to winning.
And it didn’t involve basketball one bit.
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“Mga bata eh. If you put too much pressure, sometimes they break eh,” Ayo, a decorated champion coach in the collegiate level, said shortly after UST’s victory over UE on Saturday.
“[After the] loss to La Salle, I told the boys ‘We only have two days to prepare, but tomorrow we’re going to have a break and we’re going to forget basketball first,’” Ayo shared to the press in the post-game chat.
The purveyor of a dreaded pressure defense noted that coincidentally, the team’s break fell on team manager Chuck Dumlao’s birthday.
Ang ginawa namin, wala munang basketball. They went to a spa, the went to a buffet,” Ayo bared. “After classes, nag-relax ‘yung mga bata. Walang ginawa.”
“They detached themselves from basketball,” Ayo pointed out.
And it turned out for the better.
The Growling Tigers shot better from deep for the first time in eight years where they drilled 16 triples against Adamson in a losing effort. Against the Red Warriors on Saturday, they sank 18.
“Yesterday, ‘yung regular practice naming four to five hours, [lasted for] an hour tapos upo lang, puro lang review. Na-relax tuloy ‘yung mga bata,” Ayo noted.
“I can say that it was effective kasi maganda ‘yung resulta eh. Pero titingnan naming kung ano gagawin namin sa next game namin,” he closed.
UST, now 2-4, face defending Ateneo de Manila University next