Ayo shrugs off La Salle’s opening day loss to JRU

DLSU head coach Aldin Ayo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

La Salle coach Aldin Ayo shrugged off his team’s 85-81 shock defeat to Jose Rizal University at the start the 2017 Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup Monday.

“Some of the players are still adjusting because they have bigger roles right now,” Ayo said.

“We just did not convert the shots that we usually convert. Maybe it’s jitters, but we just lacked the maturity when it comes to our execution.”

Ayo, however, did not deny that he really felt the absence of his veteran wards like Jeron Teng, Jason Perkins, and Thomas Torres when it comes to the late-game poise.

That was truly evident in the final two minutes with La Salle trailing JRU by just two points, 83-81, as the Archers rushed their shots and allowed the Heavy Bombers to eke out the win.

Situations like that, Ayo said, is nothing new to La Salle as it also executed poorly down the stretch in a championship game loss to University of the Philippines in the Araw ng Dabaw tournament last month.

“That was also the mistake we made when we were in Davao. We were one or two possessions away from winning the game, but the thing is we miss the decision making of our guards in the end game. We no longer have JT, Tommy, or Jason,” he said.

Despite the departure of his star veterans, Ayo is positive that sooner or later, his young wards will develop the maturity they need to defend their championship this UAAP Season 80.

“Our team is very young, we don’t have any fifth-year players. All of these guys, especially the small guys are sophomores or juniors. Kib (Montalbo) is the only fourth-year here. So for us, we’re still optimistic that they will mature.”

And Ayo doesn’t want to overreact from the opening-game defeat this early in the offseason, as he believes that La Salle will eventually regain its deadly form in the long run.

“It’s too early. We just did not play our game. Although we’re having a good ball rotation now, we want that to be better and for us to have a better execution,” he said.