BEING the 12-time UAAP champion coach that he is, La Salle mentor Ramil de Jesus preached how any opponent his Lady Spikers take on is just as worthy of respect than the teams they have and will face.
In a rare second postgame presser appearance, the Lady Spikers’ longtime leader played down 13 straight wins over a seven-year period against their ‘promising’ young rival side Ateneo in the midst of its team rebuild.
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“‘Di ko naman tinitignan [‘yung win streak versus Ateneo]. Kung sino naman ‘yung dumating sa amin, paghahandaan namin. Either Ateneo, UST, FEU, lahat ng schools, para sa’min big games ‘yun.
“Kung nataon lang na ganoon na kalayo o kahaba ‘yung winning tradition namin sa Ateneo, siguro hindi pa lang ito ‘yung time para siguro manalo sila sa amin,” said de Jesus.
“Actually, very promising ‘yung team nila. ‘Di mo pwedeng biru-biruin. Kailangan talaga every set, paghandaan mo at magbigay ka ng respeto kahit sila bata,” he added.
Tough love not needed
As elimination round games come thick and fast, de Jesus refused to lash out on his wards after its first defeat of the season in five sets to a still-unbeaten University of Sto. Tomas side.
Instead, he opted to recalibrate his squad by highlighting areas of their game that needs fixing sooner than later.
“After ng loss namin sa UST, ‘di ko naman sila pinagalitan. Kinausap ko lang sila na kailangan mas matuto tayo sa pagkakamali natin. Kailangan kung ano ‘yung mali natin, maayos natin sa game natin ng Ateneo, which is nakita ko naman. Na-address naman yung mga mistakes namin. Kahit papano nagawa namin nang tama,” said de Jesus.
“Siguro nakita ko lang ‘yung timing namin sa block [ngayon versus Ateneo kasi] medyo disorganized kami sa game namin against UST. Hindi na-maximize kung ano ‘yung strength namin — ‘yung middle namin, medyo na-limit yung mga sets. Ngayon, happy ako dahil medyo kahit papano na-maximize yung middles.”
And as in any RDJ-led La Salle side, there won’t be any slacking whatsoever for the Lady Spikers midway through the first round when it faces an up-and-coming University of the East side next.
“Very promising din yung team na yun kasi most of them siguro magkakasama na nung high school at kilalang-kilala na nila yung bawat isa. ‘Di mo pwedeng balewalain yung team na yun. Kung ano yung respeto na binigay mo sa Ateneo, sa UST, ganun din dapat sa kanila. Dapat paghandaan,” de Jesus said.
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