Players’ shaved heads symbol of ‘unity,’ says Tang, as Blazers snap skid

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Patient in his approach for the rebuilding St. Benilde, coach TY Tang knew that his maiden season at the helm will be a challenging experience as he seeks to lay down the foundation for his team moving forward.

Six games into the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament and the Blazers are showing promise and their their biggest statement yet came on Tuesday after they shed their slick hairdos and sported shaved domes for their game against Mapua.

Tang could only chuckle at the gestured and admitted he was caught off guard.

“I also was shocked,” he shared. “I was coming in to our practice and I didn’t know anything about it. They just had the commitment to themselves.”

JJ Domingo said it was team captain Gerard Castor’s idea to put their manes on the line for their game against Letran.

“After our game against Lyceum, Gerard thought about that and said that if we win against Letran, we won’t lose our hair. But if we lose, we’ll go bald,” he said. “You can really see his leadership on and off the court. We respect him and we follow everything he says.”

It might be a source of laughter to some, but Tang lauds this act from his players, noting that simple things like this is big for a squad that is hoping to put the years in the cellar behind them.

“Maybe it’s a symbol of unity and character in terms of building themselves, playing and building together whatever happens. That’s one thing the coaches are really happy about. You can’t just see that through certain players, because not all players do that. But they are willing to sacrifice everything just for the common goal and that’s to start winning games,” he said.

That sacrifice, though, didn’t end up for naught as St. Benilde used a strong surge in the fourth period to shock Mapua with a come-from-behind 74-69 win.

With the team snapping their four-game losing skid, Tang is hopeful that the skin-head Blazers can finally see better days ahead and turn things around.

“Hopefully, this will be a morale booster for us in terms of character, that no matter what happens, down 40, down 20, up by one, or up by 20, we’ll finish the game with a lot of attitude and pride,” he said.

As for his own hair? Tang said that he’d rather leave the hair, or lack thereof, to his players and possibly some of his assistants.

“Maybe coach Ali (Peek) and coach Siot (Tanquingcen) can,” he said with a smile.