University of Santo Tomas head coach Pido Jarencio credited the Growling Tigers’ collective effort after they recovered from their opening-day defeat to the University of the Philippines with an 80-75 victory over De La Salle University on Wednesday.
Jarencio said the coaching staff, players and management were determined to respond after the setback against UP. He also revealed that team mentor Alfrancis Chua called before the game to remind them of the need to bounce back.
“Coaches, players, management, siyempre mentor ko si Alfrancis Chua tumawag pa nga sa akin. Hindi tayo pwede matalo ngayon kasi last time natalo tayo against UP, kailangan bumawi tayo,” Jarencio said.
The UST coach added that the team carefully studied DLSU and prepared for the individual strengths of the Green Archers’ players.
“Ngayon sila talagang nag-scout nang husto, bawat player, in-coaching team,” he said.
Despite the expectations surrounding the Growling Tigers, Jarencio insisted that his squad is not taking its supposed strength for granted. He said the team must avoid relying on individual performances and instead focus on playing together.
“Saka actually walang pressure sa amin, sa amin lalaro lang kami. Marami lang nagsasabi malakas ang team namin, hindi po malakas ang team namin,” Jarencio said.
“Pero hindi kami malakas. … individualistic kami, kanya-kanya. Lesson learned, iyan natalo kami against UP.”
Jarencio described the loss to UP as an immediate wake-up call that helped the team recognize the need for greater discipline and teamwork.
“Wake-up call kaagad iyan. That’s a good wake-up call for us kasi first game talo kaagad para magising na lahat,” he said.
The coach emphasized that UST’s progress would depend on its ability to improve with every game and remain united.
“Because we work together, we improve each game, ako masaya na ako roon,” he said.
He also dedicated the victory to the UST community, whose support has continued to grow during the season.
“And then para masaya rin ang UST community. This is for the community na bumabalik, tinitingnan kami at naroonood. Marami nang noonood,” Jarencio said.
Jarencio said the team’s hard work in practice translated into its performance against La Salle.
“We stand as a unit. We play as a team. It’s a collective effort,” he said. “We stay composed. We lost to UP. We had to bounce back and do what we gotta do. In practice, we practiced hard coming into the game. So, the result was not surprising.”
The victory improved UST’s record to 1-1, while DLSU also dropped to 1-1. (Adrian Co)
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