Coach Mike Reyes of SWU-Phinma calls out a play in one of the team’s elimination round game in the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
Cebu City, Philippines—Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma head coach Mike Reyes described the team’s practice as “relaxed.”
But that’s definitely not how he wants his players to be when the Cobras take on the defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in Game 2 of the Cesafi men’s basketball finals on Thursday, November 21, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum.
“I told them that if they ran hard the whole season, lets run the hardest tomorrow,” Reyes said on Wednesday, November 20.
The Cobras took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series after scoring a gritty 70-66 win over the Green Lancers on Monday, November 18, which means Reyes and his Cobras have a chance to dethrone the powerhouse Green Lancers on Thursday, something not many have achieved in the past.
UV has won 13 titles in the league, including the last three.
SWU-Phinma did win two crowns, and ironically one against UV in 2012.
But none under coach Reyes’ watch.
This is why Reyes doesn’t want to let this chance slip away.
And it was clear during practice.
“The last instruction of coach Mike was ‘40 minutes is all I’m asking for you to win the championship and play together,’” said team captain William Polican.
40 minutes of near-perfect basketball is indeed what SWU-Phinma will need if it wants to claim the crown.
The last thing they’d want is for UV to get a win and force a rubbermatch. The Green Lancers are dangerous in those games, as seen during the semis series against the higher ranked University of Cebu (UC).
In that series, UC has a twice-to-beat edge but still lost to the championship hardened UV.
This is exactly the reason why Reyes wants his wards to go all out on Thursday.
“I told them that our discipline on both sides of the court brought us to this point. We just have to bring it out tomorrow,” he said. /bmjo