Can FEU's Romeo and Garcia finally make it work?
In their fourth and last season together, can RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo consistently work together to finally help Far Eastern University regain the UAAP men’s cage title?
Debuting coach Nash Racela thinks so, as long as his prized backcourt tandem utilizes the supporting crew to the hilt when the Tamaraws try to make up for lost ground in the league’s 76th edition that gets going this Saturday at the MOA Arena.
“Ang challenge kasi, hindi pa sila nanalo ng championship for the last few years. So hindi ka pwedeng mag-depend lang doon. I think it’s been a given na hindi kami mananalo ng silang dalawa lang. It’s how will they be able to involve their teammates because basketball is a team game,” stated Racela in an interview with Yahoo! Philippines recently.
“‘Yun ang importante sa kanila at alam na rin nilang hindi nila kakayaning dalawa lang talaga sila. Dapat nilang isipin na kakailanganin rin nila ‘yung suporta hanggang dun sa huling player sa bench para maipanalo sila,” he added.
The 5-foot-10 Garcia, named the league MVP in 2010, is now entering his fifth and final year while Romeo, a 5-foot-10 guard who was included in last year’s Mythical Team, will play out for a fourth straight year.
With Racela instilling a new system that puts a premium on a balanced offensive attack, Romeo believes he and Garcia will play better this time, eager to help the Tamaraws bounce back from a disappointing fifth-placed finish last season.
“Sobrang okay kami ngayon ni RR sa sistema. Mas madali kaming nakakapasa at nakakapag execute. Mas magiging balanced kami ngayon. We are more about the team this time,” said Romeo, a former juniors MVP with the Baby Tamaraws.
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“Tingin ko mas magiging leader kaming dalawa ni RR ngayon. Tutulungan namin ‘yung mga rookies at ibang teammates namin kung ano yung dapat nilang gawin sa loob ng court,” he added.
Still the winningest school with 19 men’s basketball titles, FEU opens its title campaign against pre-season favorite University of the East on Saturday and Racela stressed he’ll be banking more on the team’s quickness and experience.
“Although we have five rookies, I’ll be relying heavily on the veterans. We also have a smaller team so we want to thrive with our quickness,” he said.
Admitting his team remains a work in progress, Racela added he’s “trying to instill to the players to be resilient.”
“When things are good, you’ll see them as one. But the problem is, when things aren’t good, there’s a tendency to crumble. That’s what we’re working on. Gusto namin, if things aren’t good, we should stay together, keep pushing each other and keep fighting. That’s resiliency for me,” he stated.
The fact that the Tamaraws are flying under the radar in the eight-team field also bodes well for the team, according to Racela.
“Gusto ko nga ‘yung hindi kami pinag-uusapan. It relieves us of the pressure. But you can also use that as a motivation,” he said.
