Colegio de San Juan de Letrán Head Coach Allen Ricardo takes accountability from their Game 1 loss in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball finals at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City last December 10.
Accountability in the Crucial Loss
Head Coach Allen didn’t point fingers at anybody and didn’t blame any of his players after being down 0-1 in the finals series against their arch rivals San Beda University.
During the postgame interview last Wednesday, he acknowledged his plans didn’t work and apologized to all the Letrán fans who attended to watch at the Big Dome.
“Of course siyempre ang daming Letránista na pumunta dito, I’d like to apologize for that but you know, I take it. This game, akin yun. Kumbaga let’s just move forward.”
He then clarified that this loss isn’t just any tiny mistake and emphasized that there is more learning in losing and more importantly, there’s life even after a loss.
“Kumbaga, hindi ko naman sinasabi ‘it’s just a loss’, siyempre there’s life after this eh. Ang importante naman talaga kami nung mga bata, kami nung mga coaches, kasi kami ang nagsimula nito eh.”
The rookie mentor for the Knights then reflected that at the beginning of the season, when his team started 0 wins and 3 straight losses, everyone counted them out but in the end, they are in the finals now.
“So struggle kami 0-3 from the start but eventually, little by little wala naman nag eexpect na makakapunta kami dito sa championship despite starting a 0-3 start. Pero yun lang, ganun lang talaga. May mga times na things works, sometimes it doesn’t works.”
Unfamiliarity from the 3rd Unit Caused a Slow Start
Perhaps the elephant in the room was why did Coach Ricardo start his 3rd stringers and reserve players at a very crucial time in the season and not go for his usual starting lineup.
He told reporters that he had trust in all of his boys that they could execute but the unfamiliarity of playing in the finals and the “rivals atmosphere” became a factor why his Knights didn’t have a great start.
“Why gamble? Well again it’s all about the trust. Trust. Tiwala naman ako sa kanila, it just so it happens na siguro at the end of the day hindi pa sila- siguro familiar sa ganung [finals] setup. But ayun it happens eh so I take it, I take it as a man.”
The 3rd unit of the Knights that Coach Allen used were: Luiz Tapenio, Alexandrei Gazzingan, Peter Rosillio, Aaron Buensalida and Elijah Yusi.
This is far from the usual starting five which are: Jimboy Estrada, Kevin Santos, Jonathan “Titing” Manalili, Jun Roque and Deo Cuajao.
“Well siyempre nandoon yung panghihinayang pero at least alam nung mga players natin na nandoon yung tiwala ko sa kanila. So at least ganun din yung tiwala nila sa akin. Precise naman kami sa mga decision namin.”
The trick of Coach Allen didn’t work as at one point in the 1st quarter in Game 1, his team went down 15 to 5. Then, despite using Manalili and his usual starters, the 1st quarter scoring still ended at 29 to 19 in favor of the San Beda Red Lions.
In life there is always a Huge Gamble
Known to drop some very deep messages in his postgame interviews, the 39 year old mentor then again gave the reporters something to think about heavily.
Coach Allen compared making a big gamble on his reserves just like how we take huge risks in life. Because sometimes, it’s better to have regrets than remorse.
He then proceeded to point out the “what if”, more specifically, “what if his 3rd unit unexpectedly had played very differently than what we saw?”
“Minsan may mga desisyon tayo sa buhay na after things, bad things na nangyari, dapat pala ganito, dapat pala ganyan. Pero ganun naman talaga sa buhay eh diba? Minsan you have to risk, eh paano kung naging maganda yung outcome? Diba? Siyempre nasasabi natin to nagkakaroon tayo ng comments because of the loss. Pero what if, we won the game? Diba? Sometimes in life parte yun diba.”
3 Things In Order to Win the Championship: Purpose, Impact and Consequences
When asked by Rebanse, what does his players need to do in order to flip the script in the series, Coach Allen went philosophical again just like when they won the semifinals series against University of Perpetual Help System DALTA.
He told Rebanse that they must learn how to get these 3 things again, which are: Purpose, Impact and Consequences.
“Tatlong bagay ulit eh. Kailangan namin malaman ulit yung purpose, impact and consequence nung ginagawa namin para mayroon kaming better chance again to bounce back.”
He then noted that come Saturday, they only have a very small chance to commit mistakes in order to extend their finals series to a sudden death Game 3.
“Kase siyempre tinitignan namin na yun sa Saturday so siyempre hindi namin pwedeng, yung room for errors medyo manipis lang eh. So kailangan talaga namin kunin [yung panalo] na yun kahit anong mangyari.”
The Game 2 of the NCAA Season 101 Finals between Colegio de San Juan de Letrán and San Beda University will be played this Saturday, December 13 at the Araneta Coliseum with the tip-off at 2:00 PM.
