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Bong Ramos never expected anything easy when he got the Blackwater head coaching job.
That’s why even after the Elite sank to a 0-5 record in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, he cut his team some slack and knew that the squad is still in a transition period.
“It’s never going to be easy. I’m trying to instill my system little by little because you can’t shock them,” he said.
“This is a process, so slowly, we’re integrating my system. We know this isn’t going to be an overnight change so what we could do is to stay optimistic.”
Blackwater’s playoff chances have gone slimmer after its 91-105 defeat to Ginebra on Friday, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be better soon with a tussle against TNT coming up this Friday.
Only the top eight teams will progress to the playoffs.
But despite the tall order, Ramos believes the Elite have what it takes to cut the league giants down to size and it’s only a matter of outworking the competition.
“We know how strong the opponent is, and even for us, we know we have a lot to work on,” he said. “But what we need is more work. They might be stronger, but if we can outwork them, I believe we’ll eventually get the win.”
And that’s exactly what Ramos’ goal is, which is to develop a no nonsense attitude from his players as the Elite focus on creating a brighter future for the franchise.
“What’s important for me is we’re investing. We’ll never know if later on, we can get something from this core. Slowly, we’re undergoing this process and we’ll see in the long run where we’ll end up,” he said.