MAPUA coach Atoy Co concedes that achieving success in the ongoing NCAA men’s basketball tournament remains remote.
“Winning is far, far away,” Co admitted in a chat with Spin.ph after the hard-luck Cardinals lost their third straight game on Monday, a 67-79 setback to Letran.
Co is not surprised with the start of his team, last year’s cellar-dweller, which lost key players this season in Kenneth Ighalo, Josan Nimes, and Mark Braña.
“It’s as expected,” Co said. “It will be a long (rebuilding) process. But this season, I hope my rookies learn from these experiences.
“What I would like to see lang is we are going down fighting,” he was quick to add. “Kasi my team has a tendency if they face a team they think they have no chance of winning, they just play on their own.
“I would like to see them first play as a team and play defense — more than winning."
But Co said he has seen some improvements.
“Ang ball movement ko mas maganda, but still there are plenty of lapses,” Co of his Cardinals, who had 22 assists — 10 more than the Knights, although they committed 18 turnovers.
In the midst of another trying season, Co is simply trying his best to motivate his players.
How does he do that?
“Non-stop talking and non-stop lecturing on the correct way to play basketball,” said Co, whose team faces Final Four contenders Lyceum and Arellano next.
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