"MAGAAN, tapos simple. 'Yun lang po."
Grethcel Soltones' description of new Petro Gazz head coach Timmy Sto. Tomas nearly felt like a sigh of relief.
With Soltones scoring 19 against Galeries Tower, the Angels gave the ex-Ateneo men's volleyball mentor a winning start to his PVL coaching career.
READ: Petro Gazz gives PVL newcomer Galeries Tower rude welcome
Even after a victorious first outing, the former PVL Finals MVP was quick to point out the Angels' shortcomings in terms of adapting to Sto. Tomas' 'simple volleyball' philosophy.
"Si Coach Timmy, mas pinapadali niya ‘yung role ng bawat isa. Parati niyang instruction na simple volleyball lang pero ‘di namin makuha. Simpleng simple pero ewan ko ba," Soltones explained.
"Kulang na kulang pa rin kasi meron pang pinapagawa sa’min si Coach Timmy na dapat simple volleyball lang pero mas pinapahirapan pa namin ‘yung sarili namin kanina," she added.
For Sto. Tomas, who was Oliver Almadro's former Blue Eagle (2004-2009) and coaching successor in both the Ateneo men's team (2018) and the Angels (2023), he deems himself fortunate to have fended off the pressure of his pro league debut with such a eclectic group of players.
"‘Yung pressure is always there pero swerte ako kasi I’m backed with these kinds of players — sila Nang (Aiza Maizo-Pontillas), Grethcel (Soltones), mommy Chie (Saet), ate (Djanel Cheng)," the new Petro Gazz chief tactician said.
"The whole bunch is very supportive of one another and ‘yung culture namin together, sobrang gaan. Everyone helps each other at alam nila kung ano ‘yung roles nila sa team. They are very open to criticism, to change, kaya maganda ‘yung pag-transition din ng pag-coach ko sa kanila," he added.
"Magiging hipokrito naman ako kung sabihin kong ‘di ako na-pressure o kinabahan in this first game. Iba pa rin ‘tong pro league compared to what I’ve been handling sa collegiate, at women’s pa ito so all eyes on me, all eyes on the team," Sto. Tomas said.
"But then again, trabaho pa rin. As long as alam namin na tama ginagawa namin and we’re on the right track, I think na maganda ‘yung kalalabasan ng campaign namin for this conference."
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