Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of the East was looking to score a back-to-back win in UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament, but head coach Joe Silva said too much confidence got the better of the Red Warriors in its lopsided loss to University of Santo Tomas on Saturday.
UE came off a confidence-boosting win against Far Eastern University to finally barge into the win column, but Silva admitted his team was too relaxed against UST.
“A little success got into our heads. Maybe we’re not used to winning. We became complacent coming into our game against UST,” Silva said after the Growling Tigers’ 88-60 win sent the Red Warriors reeling to 1-6.
UE fell into a big hole and never recovered with Renzo Subido and CJ Cansino at the forefront of the Tigers’ charge.
“In the second half we started flat maybe because they were overconfident because it was UST and we beat FEU by a huge margin,” Silva said. “We thought we could win this game but we didn’t.”
Alvin Pasaol had another spectacular showing for UE with 32 points and 15 rebounds but Silva wants his team to play more within the system rather than just finding Pasaol on offense.
Adding to the Red Warriors woes is their lack of ball movement with only nine assists as compared to the Tigers’ 19. UST also drained 16 3-pointers while UE shot on 3-of-21 from that area.
“They’re just so used to be looking for Alvin. I want to change that. I don’t mind [Alvin scoring]. The discipline of buying in the system is not consistent,” Silva pointed out.
“We’re not the strong team that we can flip the on button and game na. I told them we have to win possession by possession, quarter by quarter, minute by minute.”