Capacio rues Tams lack of mental toughness

MANILA, Philippines - Despite their terrible beating from Ateneo that has led some to write them off in the UAAP men’s hoop wars, Far Eastern U coach Glen Capacio is keeping the faith on the character of his embattled wards and their resolve to rise above adversity.

“This is a test of character for us, how we’ll manage to recover,” said Capacio, whose crew wilted in the face of a searing ambush from an Ateneo team that’s more at home in the pressure-packed finals, 49-72, in Saturday’s opener.

“I hope something positive will come out of this setback. And knowing the character of the boys, I think we can rebound,” added Capacio.

But for them to get back in Game 2 on Thursday, the former King Tamaraw said it’s imperative to toughen up on the mental aspect, too.

“Perhaps the coaching staff failed to give more emphasis on mental preparations (before Game 1) so we’ll focus on that,” he said, noting how his cagers got overwhelmed by the tense atmosphere of a championship game.

“Our problem now is more on our selves; we simply self-destructed (in Game 1) even if Ateneo did not do anything extraordinary. It’s really more on the mental aspect. The championship stage is actually more of a mental game, of who is tougher and who has the heart.”

Ateneo, though, will be ready for FEU’s fightback, even more motivated to parry the Tams’ challenge and clinch the school’s first-ever “three-peat” in the UAAP.

“We just want to win again – that’s our motivation,” said AdMU coach Norman Black, who in spite of their 23-point blowout in Game 1 is not taking the badly-beaten Tams lightly.

“We know it’s only one game (Ateneo won in the series) and it takes two games to win the championship in the UAAP. So we’re happy, we’re excited, but not too overconfident at this point because we know FEU will bounce back.”

Olmin Leyba, Philippine Star