JACK Santiago isn’t shy enough to acknowledge the hot seat he finds himself in following University of the East’s sudden ouster in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.
“Talagang ganoon naman eh. Siyempre, sa trabaho natin, anything can happen. Management will decide,” said the Red Warriors coach.
From a dreamy 5-2 card, UE hobbled to the exit, as it only won one game since and then lost six straight, including a tough 68-55 defeat to Adamson in the fourth place playoff on Wednesday.
READ: Adamson keeps UE locked out of Final Four, gatecrashes playoff party
It was a nightmarish end to the campaign which started on a high, with the Recto squad hopeful to snap a 15-year Final Four drought.
This year, though, it was still not meant to be.
Playoff drought extended. Coach's contract extended?
Santiago knows that what the future holds is no longer in his hands, especially with his contract set to expire in January next year.
“I'll just wait for the decision of the management,” he said, leaving the final say, of course, to the Red Warriors brass.
Strong Group Athletics has long been rumored to take on a bigger role in the red-and-white’s seniors team following its support to the school’s now-contending juniors squad.
Regardless if he gets an extension, however, Santiago feels that he has done enough to build a strong foundation for the UE program - one which enabled it to actually compete this season.
“Imagine yung mga boys na ito, hindi nga kami na-rank sa top six. Kami nga yung na-rank ng eighth and seventh. But everybody, na-surprise sa amin. So that was already an achievement,” he said.
It’s just that there was still a lot that this Red Warriors team has to learn before being able to get over the hump.
“Again, maybe it's the heart that's missing, the big heart. Hindi matuturo yun kahit na sinong coach, yung puso ng players,” he said.
“Maybe itong season na ito is an experience for us. Pagdating kasi ng semifinals o ng second round, it's going to be different, kailangan mag-iba yung laro. So yun yung sinasabi ko na kung paano i-handle o i-face ng mga boys ko. That's what I meant na yun yung puso na wala pa. Maybe by next year, kung same pa rin yung players naman dyan, at least they had the experience.”
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