After a disastrous Game 2 loss, Colegio de San Juan de Letran knew that more than preparing physically, they had to gear up mentally against a valiant University of Perpetual Help System DALTA side.
The Squires had the previous game in their control after leading by as much as 18, but a second half collapse saw the Junior Altas carving out a tight 91-90 victory to force a sudden death.
Letran head coach Allen Ricardo said he put premium on their mental health, which he said was the key factor in their championship-clinching 93-76 Game 3 win to complete a rare back-to-back titles feat.
"Talagang ‘yung talo namin sa Game 2 ay ‘di ako mapalagay as a coach eh, as a leader," Ricardo shared on Saturday.
"So talagang I make sure na kinabukasan, kinausap ko ‘yung life coach namin na kailangan meron kaming session para maibalik ‘yung sigla, ‘yun kasi ang importante, ‘yung morale kailangan ibalik mo bago tayo bumalik doon sa technical aspects of the game."
"Nu’ng Thursday and Friday talagang maganda ‘yung morale ng mga bata, high spirit."
(I was uneasy after our Game 2 loss as a coach, as a leader. So I made sure that the day after, I told our life coach to conduct a session with them so the energy is back. That's important. The morale needed to come back before we took on the technical aspects of the game. Last Thursday and Friday, the morale was high, they were in high spirits.)
Syrex Silorio echoed Ricardo, saying their session with life coach Gi Semilla helped them regroup and move on from the previous loss, which saw him miss two crucial free throws down the stretch.
Down by one point in the final seconds in Game 2, Silorio was fouled by JD Pagulayan that earned him a trip to the charity stripe. But he went wide on both free freebies, which could have tied things up or even won it all for the Muralla crew.
"Actually pagka-umaga no’n hindi bagsak ‘yung morale namin and sabi ko babawi ako sa Game 3 kaya ayon," Silorio said.
"Nagtatanong ako sa mga coaches at nagpapa-motivate ako. Salamat kay Coach Gi dahil tinulungan niya kami para maibalik ‘yung morale namin and paano bumawi."
(In the morning after, the morale was not down and I told them we will bounce back in Game 3. I asked the coaches and I want to be motivated. Thank you to Coach Gi because that helped to bring our morale back and bounce back.)
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
