Bulldogs worth more than their record
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National U set out to prove that they can shed the doormat tag attached to it for the longest while.
After six outings, they earned themselves a new, not-so-flattering label.
Welcome the Heartbreak Kids.
Article continues after this advertisement‘Frustrating’ was the word graduating Kokoy Hermosisima used for to describe National U’s campaign so far in this nip and tuck college hoops affair.
“It’s frustrating to just almost win the games,” said Hermosisima, who is now playing in his second, but last, year with NU after suiting up with San Sebastian in his early college years.
Four setbacks to go with two wins over an upstart La Salle squad and crumbling University of the Eastmay hardly be the record to back up a final four claim, but a close look at those losses show that the Bulldogs were within proper executions from turning things around.
Against University of Santo Tomas, the Bulldogs were favored to dominate the contest boasting of a lengthier line up that could block the line of sight of the Tigers’ marksmen.
But last year’s seventh placer seemingly forgot head coach Eric Gonzales’ most important instruction for the game:
“Do not give their shooters confidence to shoot!” Gonzales yelled in the huddle.
The Bulldogs allowed UST to drain five of its seven three-pointers in the payoff period, including the dagger that left them trailing with six points with only two minutes left en route to a heart wrenching 59-58 loss.
“We relaxed because somehow we knew we could beat them,” Hermosisima said.
In the match against Ateneo, National U came off firing in the first half, only to watch a commanding ten point deficit over the defending champions slip away. The Eagles eventually proved too much to handle in the 82-65 defeat.
The ability to hold on to an imposing lead and to play defense until the last second spelled the difference between a 2-4 record and the lower half of the bracket that the Bulldogs now occupy.
But Hermosisma, who is raring to make a mark for his team as a send-off by ending a decade-long semifinal drought–or perhaps even a title–knows that the hungry Bulldogs, who had a 3-11 record last year, are more than just what their record shows.
“Everyone of us in the team knows we can make it to the Final Four and we will fight for it,” Hermosisima said.
