UP head coach Bo Perasol. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of the Philippines head coach Bo Perasol is fed up with his team’s struggles.
The Fighting Maroons have been on a free-fall since their 3-1 start in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament losing five of their last six matches to drop to 4-6.
“It’s really tiring when you lose and you don’t see any accountability from your players,” said Perasol Sunday at Filoil Flying V Centre after losing to University of the East, 73-64.
With the loss, the Fighting Maroons fell out of the top four and are now a full game behind the Tamaraws in the standings.
“I wanted them to feel that when you lose a game you have to be accountable, you have to own up to the chances given to you. That’s the point of character building I wanted to share with my players because it’s now always about the wins and the losses.”
UP’s game plan focused on slowing down UE’s Alvin Pasaol who has been on a tear the past four games averaging 33 points.
And that was the one thing the Fighting Maroons failed to do.
Pasaol punished UP with 32 points, outscoring the whole UP starting five who scored a measly 17 points, on top of 13 rebounds.
“Actually, he was our emphasis the past few games, we got lapses in the beginning on what we wanted to do and in fact he was the emphasis of our defense,” said Perasol in Filipino. “But he made those three-point shots so he really had a boost of confidence.”
Pasaol made five 3-pointers against UP, and none bigger than the one he drilled that gave UE a 68-58 lead with 2:49 remaining.