The Final Score: The thrilling balance between Nash Racela and Terrence Romeo

Watching Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia co-exist in every play, in every game, even if the tension between them is part-perception and part-reality, is must-watch TV. Yet during the double-overtime game between FEU and UE, minus Garcia who was suspended for one game, I focused on Romeo and head coach Nash Racela. I’m glad I did.

[Related: Garcia-less FEU Tamaraws endure two OTs before dispatching UE Red Warriors]

I understand Racela’s dilemma. Well, let’s not call it a dilemma. Let’s call it a circumstance. You can’t turn a person into what he’s not. Or you can try and turn that person into a better version of what he is. Your choice: prevent Romeo from being Romeo (good luck with that) or let Romeo be Romeo (a conservative move) or, better yet, let Romeo become the best Romeo he can be.

Romeo is theatrical in all kinds of ways. Amazing. Frustrating. Confusing. Breathtaking. Some players perform with ice water in their veins. If you cut Romeo, I think molten lava will come gushing out instead. There’s fury in every side step, every dribble, ever step-back three-pointer, every drive to the hoop. I understand why people want him to pass the ball during certain situations. But I also embrace his resolve; it’s like watching Maximus or Achilles take on an entire army.

On the other hand, Racela, the placid one, is the type who’ll calmly remind Romeo, “Terrence, alam mo naman nangyari kay Maximus and Achilles in the end, right?”

If it sounds like I’m encouraging Romeo to be as Romeo as he can be, I guess I am. I can afford to do that; I’m just an observer, not his coach. Palibhasa hindi naman ako ang tatamaan ng migraine if he decides to shoot one hundred shots in the first half alone. Because when he goes on full Dragon Ball Z mode, observing what happens to him, his coach and his team becomes ten times more fun.

When FEU won its first seven games, placing itself in the penthouse suite of the UAAP at the end of the first round, it didn’t accomplish the feat through cruise control. Suspense accompanied every step. Doom held hands with deliverance the whole time. It’s like watching Jason Bourne scamper through a gauntlet of bad guys. He’s the good guy. You know he’ll prevail. But you also know he’ll have an incredibly hard time making it happen. FEU’s campaign from a viewer’s standpoint: a tenuous spectacle.

Whatever happens during their remaining games and beyond, I suspect the Tamaraws will become the most compelling storyline of the season. Romeo likes living on the edge. Racela has the perfect temperament to make he sure he doesn’t fall off the cliff. The narrative has been set. Even with a seemingly precarious balance between player and coach, even when critics long for Romeo to become the Romeo people want him to be, FEU’s first place standing suggests that the yin and yang between the frantic star and his unflappable coach works. Sorry guys, cruise control is for the weak. - AMD, GMA News