Despite staying unblemished after a 67-62 win over San Beda University, Lyceum of the Philippines University may be without star big man Shawn Umali in their next game.
This comes as a result of Umali getting called for a disqualifying foul after getting into a verbal altercation with Red Lions cager Damie Cuntapay with 3.2 seconds left in the game.
Though not condoning the on-court actions of his player, LPU head coach Gilbert Malabanan was quick to absorb the responsibility on Umali’s behavior.
“Sometimes as a head coach, hindi mo rin kontrolado 'yung gagawin ng mga players mo eh. Pero sabi ko nga, give all the blame to me. Kung ano man ginawa niyang act sa loob ng court, I am going to take the blame as a head coach,” said Malabanan.
“Siyempre hindi kami matatapos mag-remind kay Shawn, at sa iba na rin na players na we want to inspire people in the right way,” the Pirates mentor added.
(Sometimes as head coach, we can't control the players' actions, but blame me for that. Whatever actions he did on the court, I am going to take the blame as head coach. Of course, we will not stop reminding Shawn and other players that we want to inspire people in the right way.)
Lyceum’s catalyst Enoch Valdez also echoed Malabanan's sentiments on inspiring viewers the principled way.
“Lagi naman nire-remind namin siya palagi na sa Lyceum, nag-iinspire kami ng mga kabataan. So hindi kami makakapag-inspire kung ganyan 'yung attitude namin diba?”
“Pero siyempre hindi namin susukuan si Shawn hanggang mag-mature siya. Siyempre kapatid din namin si Shawn, so we’ll take care of him,” asserted Valdez.
(We always remind him that in Lyceum, we inspire the young ones. We could not inspire if we have an attitude like that. But of course, we will not give up on Shawn until he matures. He is our brother so we will take care of him.)
The Pirates will look to sustain their undefeated record without Umali as they go head-to-head with Emilio Aguinaldo College on Wednesday, October 11.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
