With his three-game suspension reduced to just two, UP head coach Bo Perasol made it in time for the Fighting Maroons’ showdown again UST Growling Tigers, Wednesday.
However, it was not the welcome banner that he expected.
The Growling Tigers spoiled Perasol’s return, taking home a tight 84-78 victory against the Fighting Maroons.
Instead of sulking over the loss, though, the soft-spoken mentor decided to stick to the positives and praise his players’ effort.
“I need to take the positive sides of our game. We started off in a sense that I was trying to emphasize to them the importance the game, ‘yung positioning, ‘yung standings,” said Perasol, as his side remained at the second seed with a 6-4 standing.
“I really could think that it could’ve gone either way kasi ang ganda ng pinakita ni Kobe [Paras], despite the fact na may injury ‘yung shoulder niya.”
Moreover, Perasol believes that the game could’ve swung to their side had his team made the final stops in crunch time.
UP was actually ahead with 1:31 ticks remaining on the clock. However, a foul by Jun Manzo on Renzo Subido completely tipped the scales to the Growling Tigers.
After the foul, Subido drained both charities. Paraiso then fired a three-pointer which gave UST the lead. In the following play, UP failed to take care of the basketball as a UST steal led to a Subido dagger with 26.7 left to spare.
“We fouled first, they got the two points. And then although we were trying to stop their three-point shooting they were able to take the three-point shot again. And we weren’t able to score also,” said Perasol.
“At the end of the day, we have to take whatever positives we can take from this game.”
But with the elimination round finally coming to an end, Perasol puts out a warning to the rest of his squad.
“We need to figure out ourselves until there’s still a chance for us because it’s narrowing down. Though we need one more win, we need to take that because it’s not getting easier,” Perasol asserted.
