Colegio de San Juan de Letran head coach Allen Ricardo could not hide his disappointment following the Knights’ lopsided 89-70 loss to San Beda University in Game 1 of their best-of-three finals showdown on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After gambling his second and third stringers in the opening quarter, Letran went on to trail for the entirety of the game.
Despite pulling within sniffing distance, 46-45, early in the third quarter with the help of his usual rotation, the Knights were unable to respond to the Red Lions’ 22-5 surge that followed.
As the deficit swelled heading into the closing quarter, Letran’s fightback towards the endgame did little to overturn the damage.
“That was, you know, the ugliest quarter namin sa buong season,” Ricardo told reporters after the game.
“So kailangan ko lang balikan what went wrong doon sa third quarter. Kasi 'yun talaga 'yung exclamation point kung bakit. Siyempre ang hirap bumalik [from that deficit] lalo na San Beda ;yung kalaban,” he added.
After coming up short in the title opener, Ricardo took accountability for what could have been a close championship clash. He then insisted that the trust between himself and the players remained intact.
“For me, I admit, this one, ganun lang 'yung tiwala ko talaga sa mga bata. Alam naman nila 'yun. Importante lang siguro 'yung preparation namin going to Saturday’s game,” said Ricardo.
“Alam ko naman na 'yung players namin nandiyan 'yung grit. So babalik at babalik yung confidence nila. It’s just a matter of how we will study for our game plan,” he added.
Three of Ricardo’s starters in Game 1 managed to finish with two points each, while Titing Manalili, who came off the bench, carried out a team-high 17 points along with two rebounds, five assists, and four steals before being fouled out of the contest with 5:20 left to play.
Meanwhile, Jimboy Estrada and Jun Roque added 14 and 12 markers, respectively, after making an instant impact once they came in.
“It’s all about the trust. Trust, trust, trust. Tiwala naman ako sa kanila. It just so happened siguro hindi pa sila naging familiar doon sa ganung setup. But it happens. I take it as a man. Minsan may mga decision tayo sa buhay na after bad things happened, doon mo lang mare-realize dapat pala ganito, dapat ganyan,” said Ricardo.
“Yung room for error medyo manipis na eh. Kailangan talagang kuhanin namin yung Game 2 kahit anong mangyari,” he added.
At the end of the day, the Letran mentor was proud of how the Knights had come this season, considering everything the squad had to overcome to make it back to the finals for the first time since Season 98.
Letran’s campaign was a little rough around the edges in the beginning after it lost its first three assignments. It eventually found its rhythm to become a title contender once more—being the last team to complete a rare three-peat in the tournament.
Though things fell flat, lessons were learned the hard way.
“Minsan you have to take a risk. Paano kung naging maganda yung outcome. So, siyempre nasasabi natin to or nakakaroon ng comments because it didn’t work. What if we won the game? Sometimes in life, parte 'yun eh,” said Ricardo.
“We even struggled 0-3 from the start. But eventually, little by little, wala naman nag-eexpect na makakapunta pa kami rito sa championship despite our start. Pero ganun lang talaga. May mga bagay na it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
