Silva rues UE’s second half collapse in loss to UP

UE Coach Joe Silva. INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon

Head coach Joe Silva is aware that University of the East is not the biggest team in the UAAP season 81 men’s basketball tournament, especially with its lack of a hulking center.

But while he understands his team will lose some of its rebounding battles, what he won’t allow is watch his team play with minimal hustle.

UE gave away 25 points in fastbreak attempts in its 87-58 loss to University of the Philippines in the season’s opening game Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Silva’s team, understandably, got outrebounded 53-35 with UP flaunting its new prized big man in Bright Akhuetie.

“Our weakness, ever since was our bigs because of we don’t have big foreign student-athletes,” said Silva. “What I can’t accept is the 25 fast break points because for me all those points are all about the effort.”

Another flaw that Silva wants to be fixed was his team’s lack of ball movement in the second half.

UE tallied 10 assists in the first half but that mark dwindled to just four in the final two quarters, where UP took control of the game and broke away from a 33-all stalemate at the break.

“UP was having a hard time with us because they didn’t know who was going to score for us, we were passing the ball constantly,” said Silva who replaced Derrick Pumaren as UE’s head coach.

“We just lacked the effort and I felt that they gave in during the fourth quarter and at the end of the third quarter.”