NU coach Jeff Napa.–UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—National University coach Jeff Napa lamented the Bulldogs’ lack of effort after their five-game winning streak was snapped by La Salle in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament.
The Bulldogs missed Steve Nash Enriquez, who underwent successful surgery on his jaw and rested both Jolo Manansala and Reinhard Jumamoy in their 88-78 loss to the Green Archers on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
But Napa insisted that their depleted roster wasn’t the reason they got dominated by La Salle led by MVP frontrunner Kevin Quiambao, who displayed his all-around brilliance with his first career triple-double, collecting 17 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists.
“Hindi rason yung mga wala dito. Ang question ko dito yung effort na binigay namin today’s game. Yun yung wala. Ikaw ba naman magbigay ka ng 20 offensive rebounds sa kalaban mo. Hindi ko alam kung mananalo kami sa ganung sitwasyon. Pero yun yon it’s all about effort,” said the NU coach after the loss.
“Mabigat yung hindi mag-perform ng better tsaka yung effort. Kapag wala kaming effort, ganito mangyayari sa amin,” he added.
NU slid to solo second place with a 7-2 record behind league leader University of the Philippines, which holds a 7-1 record as of posting time.
Napa, who brought the school back into the Final Four last year, is expecting Enriquez, Manansala, and Jumamoy to join practice next week as they have a week to prepare for Ateneo on November 4 at MOA Arena.
“Hopefully, Nash will practice next week together with Reinhard and Jolo so we will have a better approach for our next game. Hopefully, we will be complete again so our players will be inspired,” Napa said in Filipino. “I didn’t want to risk [Jolo and Reinhard]. It’s just a safety precaution. I’d rather have an intact pool in the next few games than forcing them to play.”
Napa was expecting a “next man up” mentality from his players but he didn’t see anyone stepping up for their injured teammates against La Salle. And he hopes to see that kind of mindset in their next games as his other players continue to nurse injuries.
“I didn’t see the effort. Our effort is the team’s battle cry and style of basketball. But La Salle is La Salle. They have been contenders since the preseason. We will try to get back at them whenever we face them again,” he said. “But definitely what happened to us today won’t happen again.”