Racela proud of Tamaraws: ‘They gave more than 100 percent’

HEAD HIGH. FEU head coach Nash Racela says he’s proud of the Tamaraws for their effort in a 69-68 overtime loss to the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP Season 79 Final Four Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016, at Smart Araneta Coliseum. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Far Eastern University’s season came to an end Wednesday night and Nash Racela, who coached in his final UAAP game for the Tamaraws, couldn’t be prouder.

“What we told our players after was you just have to be proud of yourselves,” Racela told reporters after the Tamaraws’ overtime loss to the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the Final Four.

“We know you did your best and you really made it tough for the other team. That’s just how it is, one team wins, one team loses and we were a second or maybe a rebound short but it doesn’t take anything away from all of us.”

Close enough, but it was actually less than a second. Had Ron Dennison’s shot came just tenths of a second earlier, it would’ve been an entirely different story. FEU would’ve been celebrating a second straight finals appearance and there wouldn’t have been an Ateneo-La Salle championship series beginning Saturday.

But there’s no point in dwelling on what ifs and Racela isn’t the type to regret either.

For him, what matters is the effort he sees from his players win or lose.

“I asked them if they did their best. and the answer was yes. Here in FEU, that’s all we ask for from all our players,” said Racela. “As a coach, sometimes you don’t really look at the wins or losses sometimes even if you win but you only get 60 percent from your players, you don’t like that but today, even if we lost, I know they gave more than a hundred.”

“I’m just so proud of the way we played today and how we performed the whole season.”