Head coach Nash Racela. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern University had every right to celebrate on Saturday night when it became the first team to make the Final Four following a close win over University of the East.
But as the final horn sounded, the Tamaraws shook hands with the Red Warriors and quietly headed to the locker room.
Make no mistake, the Tamaraws have their sights locked in on a championship and nothing less.
“To tell you honestly, it’s not in our minds,” FEU head coach Nash Racela told reporters when asked about his team’s Final Four accomplishment this early in the season. “We know that [if we win] we’re going to get into the Final Four so why bother thinking about it.”
“Getting into the Final Four is not enough,” said swingman Roger Pogoy, who hit a crucial triple late en route to a 12-point, eight-rebound effort. “There’s still a lot of time for us to improve before we get to the playoffs.”
And in a blink of an eye, Racela shifted his focus on what’s next.
“We just want to focus on the next one. When we play Adamson they just came off a big win today. We can’t take teams for granted even if they’re at the bottom of the standings because those are strong teams and all of them gave us a hard time in the first round.”
The victory extended FEU’s winning run to eight games and gave the Tamaraws a one-game lead over University of Santo Tomas, the only team to beat them so far this season, for the top seed.
“Scary,” Racela said after his team slithered its way out of trouble against UE. “It’s scary,” he went on again.
What’s more frightening is how fearsome FEU has been all season.