Adamson coach Nash Racela. Photo from UAAP
MANILA, Philippines — Adamson coach Nash Racela hopes his wards will learn from their tough 69-71 loss to National University moving forward in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball tournament.
Tricky Peromingan grabbed the crucial offensive rebound from Jerom Lastimosa’s missed go-ahead triple and drew a foul with 0.9 seconds left. But the rookie missed both of his two free throws, failing to force overtime for the Soaring Falcons.
“So many learnings from us. I think that the players we have now are more into experiential learning. This experience today really helped them,” said Racela after losing in his Adamson coaching debut.
“My hope as a coach is that moving forward since they’ve seen their mistakes now, we can correct the things that we’ve been emphasizing.”
Racela, who steered Far Eastern University a UAAP championship in 2015, said he is not putting too much pressure on his young wards, he just wants to correct the mistakes his players commit.
“We’re not putting any kind of pressure on them. There’s a level of expectation that we have especially from the guards. We have a lot of things to correct,” said Racela.
“One learning that Jerom had today was he cannot commit useless fouls because we need him on the floor. He has to be smart, that’s something he is learning now. It’s not like 2018 and 2019 that he’s a second and third guard. Right now, he’s the main player,” he added on Lastimosa, who committed four fouls.
Lastimosa, rookie Didat Hanapi and Joem Sabandal sparked Adamson’s comeback from a 48-34 deficit to take a 55-52 lead with 7:33 to play. But Racela wants more consistency from his guards in their upcoming games.
“I guess when you’re talking about other guards, like Joem, there were moments that he was shining but what we’re looking for is his consistency. You can’t just have your moments. If you give me stability, that’s the kind of moment that we want from them,” he said.
Racela also insisted the rest of his players must have the next man-up mentality after losing three players ahead of the season with AP Manlapaz and Aaron Fermin both nursing knee injuries and Aaron Flowers ruling out ineligible for this season due to academics.
“We knew ahead of time that we’ll be losing some of the guys already. Somehow we’re preparing other guys already. The only way you could know that you are really prepared is when you get the opportunity,” he said. “This is an opportunity for them to be able to contribute and we’re hoping that they’re all up to the challenge.“
The Falcons try to bounce back against University of the East on Tuesday.