Changing culture: Pumaren to instill more confidence in Adamson

Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren.

La Salle’s Abu Tratter wanted to get under the skin of Papi Sarr in one instance in the third quarter and he got shoved by the Cameroonian center, Kib Montalbo gave the smallest player on the court CJ Cadua a body check in the fourth period and the 5-foot-5 point guard, who crashed hard on the floor, quickly got back on his feet and knocked down two free throws as if nothing happened.

For much of La Salle’s preseason game against Adamson on Saturday, the Green Archers tried to bully their way to victory.

The Archers, hands down favorites next season, won the game but they couldn’t insert any fear into these new breed of Falcons not through the physicality nor their sheer talent. La Salle’s 98-88 win didn’t dictate how hard the Archers had to push themselves in a game they were expect to dominate from start to finish.

“That’s what we’re trying to instill,” said Franz Pumaren, who was tapped as the new Adamson head coach and savior of the school’s flailing basketball program last December, on his team’s toughness.

“In fact, during my opening statement, pregame talk, I was telling them, ‘You know, people are saying the Adamson players, they’re so meek, they’re not really that aggressive, they don’t have what you call that “angas.’”

“They’re not that cocky. I was telling them comments of other people, It’s only the coaches, who really have the “angas,” added Pumaren, who won five UAAP championships during his time as La Salle’s head coach from 1998 to 2009. “You should have that particular confidence. I’m not saying cocky, you just have to be confident about yourself because if you start feeling confident about yourself, things will just fall into their proper places.”

Adamson last won the title in 1978, which to date is the school’s only UAAP crown in men’s basketball, and hasn’t made the Final Four since 2011 under Leo Austria’s tutelage.

The Falcons brought in a coach with the championship pedigree of Pumaren in hopes to change their fortunes around.

Pumaren, who is so accustomed to winning having missed the Final Four once in his 11 seasons with La Salle, shares the same goals.

To do that, Pumaren knows it starts with setting a standard.

“I’ll be a hypocrite if I tell you that we’re not looking at that. But one thing for sure, we’re going to be really competitive. I like what I’m seeing right now. I can be a little bit harsh and hard on them but I’m here to change the culture of Adamson because as we all know, there’s a tendency for them to just be happy competing, pwede na, boundary na. hopefully the landscape here in Adamson will change come UAAP.”

Based on Adamson’s first game in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup, Pumaren and the Falcons are definitely on the right track.