BO Perasol was both frustrated and spent as University of the Philippines' Maroons stared at a 44-41 halftime deficit against lowly University of the East on Sunday.
Perasol was so angry that he punched the dugout door out of frustration and gave his side the silent treatment, sitting on the bench with his mouth shut for the remainder of the game.
"We needed to try some things in order for us to get the best out of us. I think there are some times that I needed to be quiet also, needed to let them think that we don't need any voice to tell us what to do," he said later.
By keeping silent, Perasol succeeded in giving the Maroons a wake-up call.
Banking on hulking Nigerian Bright Akhuetie, do-it-all guard Juan Gomez de Liano, and senior Diego Dario, the Fighting Maroons got their acts together in the second half to come away with a 94-81 victory.
"We already know what to do," said Perasol, lauding his players for rising to the occasion and getting UP back in the groove for its playoff drive. "We have been doing this for almost a year together and they just responded and did their jobs."
The veteran bench tactician admitted his difficulty finding the right buttons to push as UP slowly slid down the standings.
"We've been very complacent. I don't know what's the reason why we don't get to give our 100-percent effort every game," he said.
But Perasol hopes that impressive second half is a sign that the Maroons have turned the corner.
"That second half proved that when we get our acts together, we're able to string up some victories. We're able to find ourselves again and realized that we're not playing in the level that we should play," he said.
Perasol, though, knows that winning one game doesn't necessarily rectify all of the problems that have plagued UP, especially with games against Far Eastern University and Adamson next in its schedule.
"This is not going to get any easier. The strings of games that we're going to have is going to be difficult, but if we are going to have that kind of effort, I think we will have a chance every game," he said.