MANILA, Philippines – Debuting head coach Atoy Co of the Mapua Cardinals lost his first game in the NCAA but remains upbeat on his team’s chances this Season 89.
"I expect us to improve our next game. Kulang lang siguro kami sa practice kasi iba nilalaro namin sa tune-up games compared sa nilaro namin ngayon," said the 62-year old Co, whose wards suffered a 72-83 loss to JRU in their first game of the season at The Arena in San Juan Monday.
Co admitted his team lost poise in the endgame.
"My team is really young. we have a lot of rookies and sophomores we just lost composure in the end," he added.
The former two-time NCAA MVP and PBA legend, however, was satisfied with how his team performed and believes they will do much better as the season goes along.
"I’m happy with the effort of the team but I'm not happy with our execution. Siguro 20 percent lang napakita namin," Co said. "72 points is not bad, it just means our defense was bad. I really missed Josan Nimes and Andretti Stevens today."
Trailing by as many as 20 points, the Cardinals unleashed an 18-4 run to take a 62-60 lead at the end of the third quarter but lost steam in the final canto.
Nevertheless, Co said he wants his team to get back to the basics of basketball – to have fun.
"Next game, we just need to play for fun and be aggressive. Dapat walang pressure kasi maganda naman nilaro namin. Nakabalik pa kami from a 20-point deficit. Nag-kulang lang talaga sa huli," Co ended.