Early exit just a road bump for promising Letran, believes Nambatac

Letran’s Rey Nambatac. FILE PHOTO/Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

For Rey Nambatac, Letran’s disappointing campaign in NCAA Season 92 is just bump in the road to a better future for the Knights.

“Sobrang laki ng faith ko sa team namin kasi tested and proven na eh,” he said after the Knights ended their campaign with a 93-87 win over Emilio Aguinaldo College on Thursday. “Last year, walang naniwala sa team namin pero we proved them wrong, na kayang-kaya namin makipag-compete sa ibang teams. We’ll bounce back hard next year. Kayang-kaya yan.”

Failing to find its groove under new coach Jeff Napa, Letran stumbled to a 9-9 card to settle for a fifth place finish.

However, Nambatac is looking at it as growing pains and he hopes they won’t have to deal with these problems again next season.

“Marami kaming nakuhang lesson. By next year, new season, madadala na namin yung mga lesson na yun. Kung ano yung lapses namin ngayong season na ito, next year di na namin mae-encounter yun,” he said.

Though bouncing back is hard, especially with most of Letran’s core players graduating, Nambatac says it’s just a matter of the team and the players believing in themselves.

“Ang motto ko sa sarili ko is believe in yourself. Sobrang laki ng tiwala ko sa sarili ko and sobrang laki din ng pressure kasi pag sinabi nila na Letran, Rey Nambatac na,” he said. “Pero di ko inisip yun, but instead, ginaginawa kong motivation sa sarili ko. May nagsasabi na ‘hindi kaya ni Rey yan,’ pero I proved to them na kahit ganun yung team namin, I’ll give my 100-percent na ipanalo talaga yung bawat laro namin.”

“Nagkaroon lang siguro na lagi kaming kinukulang sa huli. Siguro hindi para sa amin ang season na ito, so may nakalaan na mas magandang plano para sa team namin hopefully next year.”