Pumaren: UE showing too much respect for opponents

University of the East head coach Derrick Pumaren. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

After seeing his team fall for the third straight time, University of the East head coach Derrick Pumaren couldn’t help but show his disappointment with the way the Red Warriors are playing since their surprising start.

Pumaren feels his players are showing too much respect to their opponents.

“We have to beat ourselves first before we beat the other teams,” he said after the Red Warriors lost to La Salle, 71-64 on Sunday. “Since the Ateneo game, we’ve been playing like we’re showing too much respect for the other teams. The boys seems like they don’t believe they can play with these teams.”

The Red Warriors went 2-1 in their first three games of the season but everything went downhill from there with losses to Ateneo, Far Eastern University and most recently to De La Salle on Sunday.

“It’s the problem that we have right now. It is not the way we play, but it’s our confidence level. We don’t believe we can beat these teams. That’s why we can’t play to our full potential, that’s why we can’t play the game for the whole 40 minutes.

Pumaren, though, is not losing hope. And of all people, it’s he who knows what his team is capable of doing.

“We’re just showing flashes of our brilliance, and I told them you can see what you can do if you play to your full potential. That’s what disappoints me because I know they can be better than what they’re showing and that’s why we lost three straight games,” he said.

UE’s lack of experience is also showing with the team composed mainly of rookies.

But rather than looking at the newbies, Pumaren issued the challenge for his veterans like Chris Javier and RR de Leon to step up and take the lead for the Red Warriors.

“We have nine rookies, six of those are freshmen, five sophomores and one junior. [Our youth] might be a factor, but the veterans should take the lead,” he said.