Colegio de San Juan de Letran head coach Allen Ricardo said every lesson will be put to good use as the Knights officially wrap up their centennial season run.
On Wednesday, the Knights faltered in the endgame and suffered a 67-65 heartbreak against the also-ran Arellano University to officially end their fight back to the Final Four in NCAA Season 100.
Their semifinal drought may have extended, but Letran braved a challenging season that saw them wind up with an 8-10 record after only winning two games last year.
Between his duties as the Squires' head coach and his official appointment in the seniors’ team, Ricardo barely had the proper time to prepare for the much bigger role, but he most certainly made the most of his first year gaining the inside track of the higher division.
“[We had] a bit of a late preparation,” Ricardo said.
“Siyempre ‘yung juniors [tournament] is still ongoing, and hindi pa sigurado noon kung ako ‘yung magha-handle ng [seniors] team kasi I was in the interim. I mean, very short preparation for us. And the other guys, late na rin sila dumating, three weeks before the opening of the season.”
“Hindi ko ginagawang excuse ‘yun. Ang hirap lang. How we were going to execute things within a short period of time, but again, I’m very thankful to the coaching staff and the players kasi kahit short lang ‘yung time to prepare medyo na-achieve naman namin ‘yung ibang bagay,” he added.
Aside from the short turnaround that didn’t allow for much familiarity to develop and to solidify his system, Letran also opened the season with early adversities.
The Knights had to deal with highly-touted recruit Jonathan Manalili missing the centennial season, while also losing graduating Paolo Javillonar to a two-game ban handed by the league.
All things considered, though, Ricardo came up with a decent season for himself at the helm as the Knights inched closer to the top where they ruled for three straight seasons.
“Siyempre iba rin ‘yung kung naglaro si Jonathan. Iba rin ‘yung kaya niya ibigay, and then si Pao kung naglaro rin siya nung first game. It would’ve been a big turnaround. But ayun, siguro sinusubukan tayo ni Lord. Kung ano ‘yung magiging strategy kung wala ‘yung mga ganiyang personnel mo. I’ve learned a lot from this season. Definitely we’ll come back strong next year,” Ricardo said.
Despite what the numbers say, Letran still had moments worth remembering this season, which includes handing the league-leading De La Salle-College of St. Benilde its first loss of the season in the first round and ending a two-year winning drought against longtime rival San Beda University last Sunday.
“Even though we didn’t finish the season on a high note. And laki naman nang in-improve nila,” said Ricardo.
“We’ll pause for a moment. Siyempre we need to regroup, we need to plan, we need to organize everything from the coaching staff, to players, to our structure, offensively and defensively. From the recruitments, so babalik lang kami sa fundamental. Para we’ll be much more competitive next year,” he concluded.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
