EVEN after nearly two decades on the sidelines, it was this past week that pushed Shaq delos Santos to his very limits.
The veteran mentor absorbed three straight losses in a punishing three-day stretch at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
He dropped back-to-back games with Cignal, which settled for silver in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference finals, and took another hit with University of Santo Tomas falling in a five-set elimination round closer against defending champion National U.
On his fourth try, though, he broke through, at long last.
After a brief reset, delos Santos steered the Golden Tigresses past Far Eastern University in the playoff for No. 4 on Saturday.
READ: UST lives to fight another day after leaving behind FEU
And even after a euphoric win, he holds the firm belief that such brutal stretch of results could have been enough to break any coach of any stature.
“To be honest, ‘yung three days na dito straight (sa Araneta), talagang pwede kang mag-give up du’n sa mga nararamdaman mo, especially, finals pa ‘yung dalawa,” he admitted.
Big man Shaq
How did he move past all of it, then?
Wins and titles remain the ultimate goal, but for one of the sport’s enduring figures, the mission extends way beyond the scoreboard.
“Sa akin kasi, mas better na makatulong and maging inspiration ng ibang tao, not only para sa akin or sa pamilya, pero sa ibang tao,” he said.
“Malaking bagay bilang coach na nagiging inspiration or nakakatulong tayo, ‘yung nakikita ka na hindi nag-stop at pinu-push talaga ‘yung gusto mo mangyari sa buhay.”
Indeed, that's exactly what all of us just saw with the Cignal and UST shot-caller: fall down thrice, get back up four times.
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