NOTICED those placards Far Eastern University kept putting up behind its bench Sunday inside the Araneta Coliseum?
Yes, those big signs which had the likes of Trae Young’s face, the Portland Trail Blazers logo, and big bold numbers during its 59-47 loss to Adamson.
READ: Adamson gives Sean Chambers a rude reception to UAAP Season 87
As it turns out, it's a personal touch Tamaraws head coach Sean Chambers had been doing since his time as director and owner of JBS Basketball Club in the US, as well as Fern Bacon Middle School Dean of Students.
The rationale is really simple: those placards are in aid of getting through to his players, especially amidst the UAAP's well-known - and well-loved, at that - drums.
“We’re trying to run a play for a specific player and they can’t hear me, so we put up a sign that they all know what that sign is,” the first-year mentor said, drawing inspiration from what American football coaches are wont to do.
Chambers explained: “We have a play that’s actually called ‘Trae Young,’ so there’s a big picture of Trae Young. We have a play that’s called ‘Portland,’ so there’s the Portland Trail Blazers symbol. it’s just something that will help everybody understand because my goal is when we’re running the play, we all know what we’re doing especially when we’re trying to get to a specific player.”
Every time Chambers shouts out a play, assistant coach MJ Guardino will be quick to hoist up a placard corresponding to that call.
Isn’t the Tamaraws coach scared that opposing coaches will find it easy to scout his team? Not really.
“That’s the secret. We would change it up,” he stated. “We may come up with a different sign next time or we’ll change the name of the player. That’s what you do.”
More faces in different places for FEU
As much as people may find novelty in it, Chambers plans to employ this scheme for the entirety of Season 87, all the more as he makes this journey with this young FEU side.
“I think, right now, especially when we’re using five players out of high school, it’s a big atmosphere, it’s a big stage for them. I felt like Veejay [Pre], Janrey [Pasaol], and Jedric [Daa] are gonna have a moment to just get acclimated to this atmosphere, and Mo [Konateh] as well," he said.
"Basically, we also want to put a sign up for them so they know what they’re doing,” he said.
And Chambers promises that it’s not the only trick he has up his sleeve.
“I’m sure we’ll have a 'Johnny A' play out there, for sure. A 'Jojo Lastimosa.' Maybe a 'Jeffrey Cariaso' when we run our ‘Jet’ play,” he said with a laugh, referring to his old teammates with whom he won multiple championships for Alaska.
“We’ll use some of those guys, but we gotta keep the other coaches on their toes and not give them all our secrets.”
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