University of Perpetual Help System Dalta head coach Olsen Racela is looking to get some much-needed help from his bench for Friday’s Game 2 clash against Colegio de San Juan de Letran at the Mall of Asia Arena.
From being armed with the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, the Altas are on the verge of missing out on another finals appearance after absorbing a 77-73 defeat against the Knights in their best-of-three semifinals on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Patrick Sleat and John Abis combined for 41 points in the loss that saw Perpetual mount a fightback from 19 points down, 43-24, in the second quarter.
However, Olsen expects more production from his bench rotation heading into the next game to counter Letran's depth.
“We cannot just rely on our starters. We need production from the bench. Yun ang kailangan naming hanapin for Game 2. Good that John and Patrick played well. But it’s a team game kailangan ng help from other players. Napakalalim ng Letran bench. You have Titing Manalili, Jimboy Estrada, Deo Cuajao, Kevin Santos. Jun Roque nandyan rin. Tapos ngayon pumutok si Chad Gammad,” Racela said.
“We’ll see what we need to adjust, but mostly, I think it’s gonna be a big defensive adjustment.”
The Altas eventually greeted the halftime with a 50-36 deficit before pulling themselves within two possessions, 59-55, late in the third, before ultimately coming up short of completing the comeback.
“Well, maganda that we made that run in the second half. But masyadong malaki yung binigay naming plus nung first half. We gave 50 points, and that’s not our character. Against a team like Letran, we have to play a good defensive game for forty minutes,” Racela said.
He noted that the team only gave up 27 points in the second half, which is what he would like to see moving forward.
Perpetual, which is one of four NCAA schools without a taste of the championship, could still not find the answer against a Letran side that dealt them a 63-56 defeat in the elimination round.
Racela, though, remained optimistic about their chances in Game 2.
“We lost to them in the group stage, but pagdating ng playoffs zero na ulit. It’s just you cannot give a lot of opportunities to a team like Letran,” said Racela.
“Of course malungkot sila thay we lost. But we’re looking forward to the next game. Ang maganda nyan best-of-three yung Final Four. Hindi twice-to-beat yung any team. Kung ganon tapos na sana yung season namin. Ngayon best-of-three series. Natalo nga kami. Pero may pagasa pa kami. Buhay pa kami. We’ll just have to look forward to Game 2.”
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
