UAAP: Adamson coach Nash Racela sees Roger Pogoy in Joshua Yerro

Adamson’s Joshua Yerro.–UAAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Not only has Adamson’s Joshua Yerro turned heads this season, but he’s also drawn comparisons to former UAAP star Roger Pogoy, whom Falcons coach Nash Racela is very familiar with.

Yerro turned in another solid performance, scoring 17 points to lead Adamson past University of Santo Tomas, 61-53, in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena. 

But the fourth-year player admitted that he still needs to be more consistent and learn how to stay composed late in games.

“We need to be more consistent. We have to learn from our mistakes, especially in the fourth quarter during the last minute,” said Yerro, who shot 4-of-6 from the 3-point area and also had four assists and three rebounds.

Racela believes that Yerro is on track to be a steady leader for Adamson.

“I think he’s settling down. As he said he needs consistency because in the first two years that we coached him, he was jittery when he plays. Sometimes he’s too fast for his own good, sometimes he goes hard a little bit too much. But I told him once he tones it down a little bit he will be okay,” said Racela.

“I think this year, he’s learning that. Not just the whole game, because I told him even in the last game, he was okay, he was so composed in the first half but in the second half, he was back to his old self. He needs to be consistent.”

Joshua Yerro. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Racela sees a young Pogoy in Yerro, who is just scratching the surface of his full potential.

“I always tell him, players like we had before in FEU, like Roger Pogoy, was like him. Roger is like that. Roger actually settled down in his last year in FEU. That’s the tendency of [players from] the South but we know their capabilities. They have a gift. He just needs to tone down a little bit. hopefully, he gets there. He’ll get there. The sooner the better,” said Racela, who won a UAAP championship with Pogoy in 2015 at FEU.

Yerro knows that his team needs him to be more mature especially after the Falcons’ leader Jerom Lastimosa suffered a season-ending ACL injury.

“I need to step up for my team since I am the senior. Coach always tells me that I need to be composed and stable inside the court all the time,” he said.

But Racela was satisfied with how the Falcons have been playing this season as they are currently at No. 4 in the standings with only four games left in the elimination round.

“I’ll be unfair to my players if I say I’m not satisfied with what I’m getting from them. Of course, we’re happy as a coaching staff, we’re happy with what we’re getting. We hope that our players mature faster. We can’t recruit blue-chip players because that’s not our program in Adamson. We try to be patient and wait for their development,” Racela said.

“We’re happy with what we’re getting but we’re not satisfied that much yet. Because again, we have a goal as a group.”