University of the Philippines has hit a wall.
The Fighting Maroons are a few games away removed from the top four spots of the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament and head coach Bo Perasol knows they have to get their acts together if they ever hope to end the school’s Final Four drought.
“We have to be better, period,” said Perasol after UP lost its fifth game of the season when it fell to Ateneo, 83-66, Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: Ateneo recovers, dumps UP to open 2nd round
UP was considered as one of the Final Four contenders before the season when Bright Akhuetie, who last played for University of Perpetual Help in NCAA Season 92, fulfilled his one-year residency.
Akhuetie’s addition, however, hasn’t panned out into instant success as the Fighting Maroons currently languish at the sixth seed with a 3-5 card.
“We can’t just say we will fight. We have to be truly better to beat the teams that we will go up against,” said Perasol. “We just have to encourage the team that all is not lost. The day of reckoning will be the day that would be the last.”
UP is a full game behind fifth-running University of Santo Tomas, and 1.5 games behind fourth seed De La Salle University.
And with the clock ticking down on the Fighting Maroons, Perasol said they have to get back on track starting with their next game against University of the East on October 21.
“We need to look at the six games that are coming and we need to take the next one, and the next one, until everything’s over,” said Perasol. “It’s my job to lead my team and to make them feel we have to keep going.”