AS heartbreaking as how Letran’s NCAA Season 100 campaign ended, there is still plenty of optimism within Intramuros – they’d just have to be patient.
Looking at things more closely, it's actually in Season 101 where Allen Ricardo’s Knights true potential could be seen, especially with all his recruits finally set to eligible come next year.
Not only will they be parading former NCAA Juniors Finals MVP Titing Manalili next season, they’ll have the Perpetual pair of mythical team member Jun Roque, and hulking big Mark Denver Omega to alleviate the departure of veterans Pao Javillonar and Kobe Monje.
Also set to be eligible next season is former Mapua guard Peter Rosillo, who stood out in the NCAA Season 99 finals against the Knights, and Fil-Canadian high-flyer Daniel Marcelo who made a name for himself in CEU with his aerial acrobatics.
Those names, alongside returning key cogs like Jimboy Estrada, Deo Cuajao and Kevin Santos, will certainly make the Knights one of the most formidable squads next season.
Ricardo, though, isn’t about to get ahead of himself.
“Tinututukan ko muna yung mga pag-aaral nila baka kasi magkaroon ng certain changes but syempre with Jonathan Manalili and the rest of our recruits, [exciting]. From there we’ll see,” Ricardo said.
READ: Familiar faces Ricardo, Beltrano chart a new path for Letran Knights
Before they can totally look ahead, they must first take care of this season’s post-mortem.
The first-year head coach bared that there will be some major reassessment in the team, from their end in the coaching staff all the way to the 15th player on the bench after missing the semis for the second straight year since their three-peat.
It was such a promising start from the storied squad in Intramuros after going 6-3 in the first round which included a win over pre-season favorite College of St. Benilde.
But things went haywire for the Knights in the second round, going just 2-7 in that stretch including a heartbreaking 67-65 loss to the Arellano Chiefs which slammed the Final Four door on Letran.
READ: Brave Arellano puts an end to Letran's playoff push
“Syempre we need to regroup, we’ll need to plan, we need to organize everything from the coaching staff, from the players, from our structures, offensively, defensively, to the recruitments,” he said.
“So kumbaga babalik lang kami sa mga dapat namin balikan like the fundamentals para we’ll be much competitive next year.”
What went wrong for Letran?
When pressed about what ultimately went wrong for Letran, Ricardo pinned it on chemistry, or the lack of it. That showed when the going got tough in the second round and every team was jockeying for a semis seat.
It wasn’t until late May when Ricardo was officially named the head coach of Letran, after being the squad’s caretaker following the departure of coach Rensy Bajar.
“A bit of late preparation for us. Syempre yung juniors is still ongoing and then hindi pa sigurado kung talagang ako yung maghahandle ng team that time kasi I was in the interim so very short preparation for us. Then the other guys late na rin sila dumating, three weeks before the opening of the season,” Ricardo rued.
“Hindi ko ginagawang excuse ‘yun ang hirap lang sa side ko as a coach because this is very challenging – paano magkaka-chemistry, paano magiging jive yung isa’t isa, how are we going to execute things in the short period of time.
“But again I’m very thankful with the coaching staff and the players kasi kahit very short term lang yung preparation namin, I guess medyo na-achieve naman namin [yung goals].”
It also didn’t help that they had to readjust their personnel right before the opener.
Days before the season, they learned Manalili – Ricardo’s lead guard in his back-to-back conquest of the NCAA juniors basketball – wasn’t going to be available for the season, while Javillonar missed out the first two games due to suspension for playing with Converge in the offseason.
It was a rough season, but Ricardo relishes this humbling experience, knowing that this trying season in his first salvo as a collegiate coach will only make him better moving forward.
“Syempre iba rin yung ‘kung naglaro si Jonathan [Manalili]’, iba rin din yung kaya niyang ibigay and then si Paolo [Javillonar] kung naglaro din siya ng first game versus San Sebastian, it will be a big turnaround,” he said.
“Ayun siguro sinusubukan tayo ni Lord kung anong magiging strategy pag wala yung mga ganyang personnel mo.”
Masarap (pa rin) mag-coach sa college
Before the season started, Ricardo beamed with excitement when asked about his initial feelings on his transition to the college game.
And he still feels the same even after such a trying season for Letran, where every move he made came under the microscope from the proud community.
“Nandon yung syempre the pressure, they always expect you to win, di ba,” Ricardo said.
“Iba yung college basketball actually ang layo sa high school pero very challenging kung papaano mo aayusin yung mga attitude ng mga bata sa college. Kasi sa high school syempre underage pa sila, kaya mo silang kontrolin.”
Ricardo noted the challenge of handling men from different upbringing, backgrounds, and playing styles, and he believes he’s learned a lot from this stretch.
These learnings will certainly be critical, especially with the new set of recruits set to bolster the Knights next season.
“Eto nanggaling na sila sa iba’t ibang coach so it’s very challenging for me kung papano sila maglaro sa’kin, pa’no ko makukuha yung loob nila,” Ricardo shared.
“Andami, ang laking (challenge), sobrang deep eh. You know ang laking natutunan ko especially dun sa mga pagkatalo namin.”
Equipped with a year of experience now in the collegiate coaching scene and set to be reloaded after a bountiful recruitment haul, all Ricardo asks is for more patience from the community. Rome, after all, wasn’t built in a day.
“Habaan niyo pa po yung pasensya niyo sa akin at sa team and we promise you to come back stronger.”
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