IT could be finals jitters.
Returning to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball championships for the first time since 1970, National University (NU) just did not have the mental edge to sustain the big lead against Far Eastern University (FEU).
And that’s something Bulldogs Head Coach Eric Altamirano needs to address in order to stay alive in their bid of ending a very long title drought in the UAAP.
The charismatic mentor admitted that the pressure of playing in the finals took the toll on them the reason they yielded a 75-70 decision to the Tamaraws in Game One of their best-of-three championship series.
“To sum it all up, the missed free throws did us in. We missed 16 free throws. ’Yun talaga, e. We have to address that. More of that was mental fatigue,” said Altamirano, who brought the team to their third consecutive Final Four appearances in the league.
“I told the boys that their emotions got in the way. Normally, when I see them shoot their free throws, they’re focused, very relaxed and they were not expending a lot of energy. I felt they weren’t doing that, even Gelo [Alolino]. Siguro, excited sa finals,” he added.
Troy Rosario, who was key in their first-half surge that built a lead as high as 12 midway through the second, left the match due to cramps on his left leg during the fourth quarter and never returned.
“We tried to talk about it in the locker room. Baka part na rin ‘yun ng excitement. We badly needed him [Rosario] in the fourth quarter,” Altamirano said.
During that stretch, NU tried to bounce back from a sorry third-quarter stint, where Roger Ray Pogoy took flight and erected a 13-point advantage for the Tamaraws.
The Bulldogs turned to top guns Gelo Alolino and Alfred Aroga, who scored the bulk of their 20 fourth-quarter points, but it was not enough to complete the late-game comeback bid.
Altamirano pointed out that their defense failed to hold up as they allowed FEU to score 75 points during the match.
“The key there was the third quarter. We allowed them to score 25 points. Malaki masyado. We won in all the quarters except the third. We’ll have to take a look why that happened,” Altamirano said.
Despite trailing in the series, Altamirano, now on his fourth year as NU head coach, remains positive that his players can bounce back in the next game.
“We’ve lost the battle, but not the war,” he said. “Ang importante sa amin, we have to come back strong.”
NU will try to level the series on Wednesday in Game Two at 3 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The last time the Bulldogs won the UAAP crown was in 1954, the school’s first and only jewel so far in the league.
Image credits: Alysa Salen