San Beda coach Yuri Escueta. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—San Beda may have won a tight battle on Sunday but the overtime victory over San Sebastian didn’t take away the fact that the Red Lions have yet to address a couple of their concerns this season.
The Lions were fortunate enough to have escaped the Stags, 82-79, after turning the ball over 25 times much to the dismay of coach Yuri Escueta.
“I told my players they needed to adjust. We can’t turn over the ball 25 times due to physicality and pressure. Whatever we can control, that’s what we have to fix. We have to play stronger with the ball, handle pressure and also get rebounds,” said Escueta after steering his squad to its third consecutive win.
Apart from their turnovers, San Beda also allowed San Sebastian too many offensive rebounds with 19 that led to 15 second chance points.
“Turnovers and rebounds are what really concerns me. It’s giving the opponents extra possessions,” said Escueta, whose team also had 15 turnovers as compared to Arellano’s six last Friday.
Luckily for the Red Lions, they’ve been able to win despite their shortcomings in limiting their turnovers and rebounding.
But that won’t cut it for Escueta, who wants his team to be consistent as the Final Four approaches.
“Oh, we are consistent… on turnovers and missed box outs,” he said in jest. “But actually, we’re still inconsistent. That’s the fight in the NCAA, teams will pressure you, we have to be tougher than that.”
San Beda (9-4) is currently in third place now in third place just behind second-running College of St. Benilde (9-3) and top seed Letran (11-3).