Ateneo head coach Louie Alas breaks down Blue Eagles loss to Archers
MANILA, Philippines -- “Nawala ang sharpness namin.”
Ateneo head coach Louie Alas said the Blue Eagles “played just three quarters” as they fell against the La Salle Green Archers, 83-76, in their UAAP Season 89 rivalry matchup Wednesday evening.
Trailing by just two, 70-72, with 4:34 remaining, Ateneo saw La Salle go on an 11-2 run to grab an 83-72 lead with 2:16 remaining.
While the Blue Eagles tried to inch closer, the deficit was too big to overcome l.
Following the loss, Alas admitted that the Green Archers prepared well against them.
“Siguro lack of preparation. Ini-scout nila yung mga ginagawa namin, so I told my players sabi ko sa kanila, kasi hindi kami naglaro nang smart kanina e. Sabi ko, I failed to motivate you to play smarter. Next time it will not happen again,” he told reporters.
After trailing by one, 62-63, heading to the fourth, Ateneo fell behind by eight, 64-72, after a triple by JC Macalalag.
But six straight points, thanks to Jared Bahay and Grayson Rogers, pulled them to within two, 70-72.
However, consecutive turnovers and bad plays by Ateneo led to free throws by La Salle, which spelled the difference in the game.
“After [pulling to within two], sa amin na sana yung bola nun e. But we stopped during that. So, lack of preparation, mindset,” he said.
“Na-overwhelm kami ng panalo nung last game. Sabi ko nga sa kanila, this is not the team that played against NU. And for that, siguro kailangan pa natin mag-usap nang mag-usap, especially ako, between you and me. Kasi parang nawala talaga yung sharpness namin. And that's a big, big reason for the loss.”
Ateneo is coming off an 87-76 win over NU last time around.
While Alas acknowledged that his team is young, La Salle was simply sharper this time around.
“They played the whole 40 minutes. Kami, three quarters lang yata kami naglaro nang maganda eh. Nip and tuck diba? Lamang lang, hindi lumalaki yung lamang, pero noong fourth quarter, last three minutes ata yun. Parang kami yung pagod na pagod,” he said.
“You know what? Going to this game, I'm super positive eh. Kasi, compared dun sa games nila previously, before UE, hindi naman sila ganito ka-sharp eh. Kanina, super sharp sila eh.
Siguro nga maganda yung preparation nila because first time nila pinagsasabay yung mga guards nila against us. So, we will look at it ngayong gabi kung what really went wrong sa amin.”
Against La Salle, Ateneo relied on Shawn Tuano, who finished with 17 points, five steals and two rebounds. Bahay added 14 markers, three boards and three dimes.
Alas’ son, guard Kieffer, struggled and produced just five points on 2-of-11 shooting.
“Medyo malaking factor [ang defense nila on Kieffer]. Eh si Kieffer naman, in-allow niya na i-top-lock siya. Yung hindi talaga siya iniiwan kahit wala siyang bola. Sabi niya dad, sige isama niyo na, may mali ako dyan,” he said.
“Sila ni Jared lagi ang point of defense sa kalaban. Parang alisin ninyo si Kieffer, alisin ninyo si Jared, more than half of the job is done. So, we need to arrest that.”
Ateneo will try to bounce back against league-leaders Far Eastern University on Saturday, 5: p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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