BY John Miles Arcenal
FOLLOWING a fourth-place finish last season, Lyceum finds itself lost at sea early on in NCAA Season 101.
On the heels of their double-overtime heartbreak against Mapua in the opener, the Pirates yet again came up short, this time against Perpetual, to sink to an early 0-2 hole.
Head coach Gilbert Malabanan didn’t mince words after the loss, calling out his squad’s lack of fire and desire.
“Walang puso yung players ko maglaro,” he lamented.
Instead of being put down by the scathing statement, Lyceum senior guard will use it as motivation for continuous improvement.
As he put it, “Kanya-kanyang pagdadala sa feelings naman ‘yan eh. Kasama naman sa game yun kaya move forward nalang kami next game.”
Renz rises as captain of the ship
The court general remains upbeat he and the Pirates can recover from their sloppy start, especially if he builds on his averages thus far of 20.5 points and 3.5 assists in their first two games.
“Marami pa kaming kulang eh, so kailangan naming trabahuin yun and mag-adjust kami sa next game,” he stressed, as last year's Mythical Team member, Ato Barba, is struggling to get going.
And so, Villegas, knows full well that he has to step up for his struggling teammate.
“Kung sino lang yung mag-click sa game, susuportahan lang namin and tiwala lang sa isa’t isa,” he said.
“Tiwala pa rin sa isa’t isa - sa team, sa coaches - and bahala kung saan dalhin ngayong season. Basta maglalaro kami.”
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