Commentary A rallying point?

MANILA, Philippines – Rallying point is an emotional, psychological tool of many a coach would use particularly when the game hangs in the balance with no team given quarters or asked one.

It comes in handy when no amount of coaxing, urgings and threats could free the players from the clutches of pressure and mortal thoughts of losing for a late surge to victory.

Rallying point comes in different forms but with a singular purpose – to find a compelling reason that would churn up the passion that whips the blood.

It is a morale boost. It could unify and fire up individuals into a swashbuckling stand against a superior enemy.

Multi-titled coach Tim Cone, in his earlier years in the PBA, would storm into the court in the heat of battle to argue a call only to be bodily ejected from the court.

But by then he shall have made a statement to the team, telling everybody he’s willing to be ejected as long as he gets a fair share from the referees.

The fiery coach Yeng Guiao would push the limit, even harassing an opposing player who happened to be near the Rain or Shine bench, all for being thrown out of the game and later drawing the best from his players.

Lately, a veteran cager of the Jose Rizal Bombers played a crucial game heavy with grief as his father’s remains lie in state in some memorial parlor in the city.

They rallied behind the guy and his family.

A few years back, a UST player suffered a sudden death and the Tigers clawed and roared in the match they offered to the memory of their teammate.

Or farther back, how an injured Willis Reed Jr. took a dose of painkillers in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Final against the LA Lakers and the sight of the 6-foot-10 center, the “heart and soul and backbone” of the team, playing through the pain was enough to boost the New York Knicks to the championship.

These are cases to rally for. These are do-or-die cases that eventually test the will, desire and character of a team.

Which brings up the issues that have burdened the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the current UAAP wars, inflicted upon the team by two of their players, one on a “drunken rage” on some busy street and the other a complaint on violence against women that had their foreign player being  detained by the police after the game. 

Coach Bo Perasol has dismissed the controversies as sheer distractions they would use as rallying point in their vital showdown with archrival La Salle tomorrow.

When one rallies the players, it means getting them all in one page, believing in their cause, having faith in each other.

But could one unite them for nebulous reasons?

One rallies for a team in dire straits, a hurting or fallen comrade. Not for flawed characters who put the team to grief.