A SHAKY start-turned-late Final Four push in UAAP Season 88? Nash Racela has been through this ride with Adamson before.
The Soaring Falcons again ended Round 1 with a 3-4 card just like in Season 87, a campaign that saw the San Marcelino side, to the surprise of just about everybody, emerge as a Final Four team.
The year before, the white-and-blue just mised out on the next round after losing to Ateneo in the fourth-seed playoff, while in Season 85, of course, Jerom Lastimosa led them to the Final Four.
And now, Adamson is tied with the Blue Eagles for fourth and fifth, with both squads sporting a 4-4 slate.
Always 'less talented than other teams,' as they claim themselves to be, Racela and his wards just always seem to find a way - despite all the departures and arrivals en masse.
“If you look at our lineup the last four years, there are a lot of changes from season to season. I think that's the main reason [for our inconsistencies]; na laging kalahati ng team bago, walang experience sa UAAP,” he told SPIN.ph.
There has always been talent, of course, from Lastimosa and Vince Magbuhos before to Mathew Montebon, Matty Erolon, and Cedrick Manzano now, but Racela also acknowledges the tall task of time and again having to integrate new faces, especially this season when they have more than a handful of Baby Falcons getting promoted.
"Feeling out round pa lang nila yung first round. When you have less talent, mas mahirap to compete and all the more you should have control over yourselves, control your controllables para mas maka-compete ka," said Racela.
“Kung talent-talent lang, sige ba, hayaan mo silang lahat. Pero it just tells you rin na you cannot just rely on yourself. You need that team, you need that system.”
Surprising Falcons are here again
But does he still carry the belief that a much inexperienced Adamson side can take a page off their playbooks from the past years and author another dream run?
As the season runs its course, the champion collegiate coach is banking on his young guns’ eventual experience to teach them to fight for more than just keeping their heads above water.
As he put it, “Our growth is continuous, and again, I always believe that the greatest teacher is experience.”
“Though ang expectation ko sa kanila is medyo nililiitan ko, I’m still hoping that with the short exposure, with the experience that we're getting sa first eight games naman, sana natututo sila nang mabilis para mas mapakinabangan natin sila sa last games pa.
“Ako, I’m positive pa rin as a coach as we’re still going through that process.”
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