IT takes a whole lot of faith, patience and understanding for a player to keep looking for his teammates even after they continuously misfire.
That’s exactly what Philip Manalang has been doing, and his faith was finally rewarded in a big way.
Manalang’s shooters finally came clicking as University of the East snagged its first win in the UAAP Season 81 in style after dominating Far Eastern University 90-65 on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The veteran guard set the tone for the blowout as he finished with 13 points and 12 assists, the most number of assists since Terrence Romeo had 12 back in 2013.
“Unselfish play kasi. Lagi kong sinasabi na kailangan ko kayo, di naman pwedeng puro Alvin lang or puro ako lang. Team tayo dito e. Pamilya tayo,” said Manalang.
“So kailangan natin bawat isaa, maliit na minute man yan, inaano ko parin na magcontribute kayo, kahit sino, bench, yung mga maliliit na bagay, magcheer kayo pag down yung mga teammates niyo,” he added.
“Sobrang saya ko kasi yung tiwala ko sa kanila sinuklian nila e. Isa sila sa mga kailangan ko yung mga shooters ko. Before the season palang sinasabi ko sa kanila na para dumali yung trabaho ko, as a point guard, mas masesetup ko kayo ng maayos pag nakakashoot na kayo siyempre luluwag na yung depensa e. Yun lang,” he added.
After going down 0-14, the former National University Bullpup admits that there were times wherein the doubts started to kick in and frustrations started to build.
But for Manalang, it’s in those trying times where they need to stick together even more.
“Parang ang hirap maglaro ng wala kang panalo e. Dumadating na yung doubts, yung pressure pero test of character e. Winner’s attitude, sinasabi ko sa sarili ko na ito yung mga teams na kailangan natin maovercome,” Manalang explained.
“Makaisa tayo, makuha lang natin yung kumpyansa natin, sunod sunod na yan. Sinasabi ko lagi sa kanila, sa mga teammates ko na malalagpasan din namin to,” he added.
The time finally came for the Red Warriors and Manalang had little doubts that they can finally pull off the win.
He shared that prior to the game, he already saw things that weren’t there before – the fire and the hunger finally manifesting on the team.
And the moment the tip-off came, that type of intensity finally rubbed off on them and it has resulted into the win.
“Yung desire manalo,” replied Manalang when asked what changed in this game.
“Coming to this game, sa dugout pa lang, kinakamusta ko sila, pero parang sa dugout palang nakikita ko sa mata nila na nagusto nila manalo. Hindi nga sila nagkikibuan e. Parang galit galit muna, walang nagjojoke, sobra focus nila. Pag dating namin sa game na, dun na namin inenjoy yung basketball.”
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