LETRAN knows better than to get too comfortable with an advantage.
A year after turning a twice-to-win disadvantage into a Cinderella run to the NCAA Season 101 finals, the Knights enter this year's playoffs from the other side of the equation, armed with the top seed in Group B and a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals.
READ: Jimboy Estrada clutch once more as Letran survives Perpetual
But for head coach Allen Ricardo, that advantage is hardly the point.
“Wala, ‘di naman namin iniisip ‘yung twice-to-beat kami,” Ricardo said. “Iniisip na namin, we have to finish every game. Win every game, that's it.”
Last season, Letran had to take the long road.
The Knights toppled Arellano despite carrying a twice-to-win disadvantage in the quarterfinals, then swept Perpetual in the semifinals to book an unlikely trip to the championship round before ultimately falling to San Beda.
This time, Letran has earned the luxury of a shorter path.
The Knights finished atop Group B with nine wins, losing just once over their final five games to secure their place in the quarterfinals. They now await the winner of the play-in showdown between Mapua and Lyceum.
Still, Ricardo wants his players to approach the postseason with the same urgency that carried them through last year's underdog run.
His message to the team has been deliberately simple.
“Dalawa lang lahat ‘yung sinasabi sa kanila. It's all about the effort and attitude,” he said. “Regardless if we're up or we're down, you always show the right effort, the right attitude, the right body language every time you play.”
For Letran, the formula heading into the playoffs comes down to sustaining that standard when the stakes rise.
“Going to the playoffs, we have to stay relentless, defensively, and have discipline on offense,” Ricardo said, before broadening the emphasis to both ends of the floor.
“It's more of two things: being relentless and having discipline on both ends.”
The twice-to-beat advantage gives Letran a margin for error. Ricardo, however, would rather his Knights leave no need for one.
After all, the team that reached last year's finals learned exactly what can happen when every game is treated like the last one.
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