FAR Eastern University coach Nash Racela saw troubling signs of complacency when his wards played a lowly University of Santo Tomas squad, despite the Tamaraws stretching their win streak to six on Wednesday in the UAAP Season 79 basketball tournament.
The Tamaraws won just enough to beat the struggling Tigers, 59-48, to improve their record to 7-2, but Racela was visibly unsatisfied with their effort.
“Today wasn’t really that nice,” said Racela.
Racela bared he was troubled throughout the game and was constantly reminding his players to play the right way against the Tigers.
“If I remember it correctly, the whole game, I kept on reminding them to play hard and play correctly. As a coach, you see those things. Then, maybe, that’s a sign of complacency,” said Racela.
He also reiterated his warning during halftime, but Racela didn’t see any response from the Tamaraws after the break.
“My question for them during halftime was ‘What is your objective for today’s game? Do you just want to be ahead of the team or do you want to be your best today?’” he said
“I don’t know if I got the answer,” added Racela.
Racela said even the members of the coaching staff, particularly assistant coach Josh Reyes, also noticed the same thing.
“Si coach Josh, bumubulong sa akin and he felt na itong game na ‘to, other guys were using this game to get their confidence. That’s kinda selfish on their part. That’s a concern,” he said.
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