Lockdown doubly difficult for Nash
Blackwater’s new coach Nash Racela is facing more pressing concerns than his fellow PBA coaches as the capital continues to be locked down in an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) amid the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“To be honest, the [predicament] is double hard for me [to deal with],” he told the Inquirer. “I’m new to the team. I have yet to have deep relationships in [Blackwater].”
Racela, the former TNT coach, was supposed to make his return to pro coaching official this season and use the early stages of the Philippine Cup to jell with the squad.
“I’m sure there are also unique challenges that other [PBA] coaches face,” he said.
Team practices, meetings, and even tuneup games were all prohibited by the league following the government’s call for social distancing, one of the solutions viewed to vastly help in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
But other logistical woes are bubbling under, too, Racela said.
“Among the harder part are ‘rehabs,’” he said. “It’s hard for coaches and players to religiously monitor them. But what choice do we have?”
Elite’s top guns Mac Belo and Carl Bryan Cruz are both undergoing rehabilitation programs before the pandemic struck. Maurice Shaw, one of the top picks of the regular Rookie Draft, suffered a sprain right before the ECQ.
Racela isn’t running out of hope yet, though.
“I’m believing. I’m believing that there is something good in the future,” he said.
