WORDS: JASMINE PAYO
PHOTOS: RYAN ONG
October 3, 2009 | 2302 views
UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST COACH LAWRENCE CHONGSON ON THE EMOTIONAL RED WARRIORS, GAME 1 MISMATCHES AND NURSING THE TEAM'S TITLE HOPES
Match-up Mess
It's disappointing that we lost [Game 1]. They made the shots that mattered, while we couldn't execute in the end game. We had difficulty matching up with their starters. You can see from my boys that they tend to be tentative at times.
Hurdling Al-Hussaini
We probably have the shortest frontline in the league right now, so all we could do was offset it. We knew (Rabeh) Al-Hussaini will get his numbers, so we tried to limit the rest. But Jai Reyes also came out big. He made three-pointers one after the other and that kept them afloat every time we made a run.
Emotion Check
Our players have to taper off their emotions. They always feed off emotions that's what I've been trying to tell them. Sometimes, it's positive, but it can also be a negative thing. They don't think that much on court; it's all emotions, all adrenaline. When it flows, it's good. But when it stops flowing, we're at stalemate.
On-Court Talk
Now we know we can compete with them. It was close until the final minute. But then again, we didn't come here to challenge them. We came here to win. We had a problem on communication among the players. Jai Reyes was left unguarded many times. Our communication on court somehow just didn't get followed.
Gearing up for Game 2
Hopefully, we come out better and execute in Game 2. Basically, [we have] the same game plan. We just have to make adjustments defensively. We didn't do a good job in their two-man defense, so we have to work on that, also.
No Excuse
We came here to win. I'm not even going to use a runner up as an excuse that we had a good season. It's championship or bust.
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