Garcia takes over as head coach of Dumaguete Warriors

Leode Garcia is the new Dumaguete Warriors head coach. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Veteran floor tactician Leode Garcia described his new team, the Dumaguete City Warriors, undermanned but with big hearts after he was officially installed as the new head coach of the team that currently campaigns in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup in Alcantara, southwest Cebu.

In an interview with CDN Digital, Garcia confirmed that he would be replacing the Warriors’ former head coach Rommel Uka who decided to leave the Alcantara bubble due to undisclosed personal reasons. 

Also, the team lost one of its key players, Jerick Nacpil, who has to attend to his wife, who has reportedly contracted the COVID-19 in San Fernando, Pampanga. 

Garcia, who led the Jaguars to the Cesafi men’s basketball finals in 2018, said that his new team had it talent-wise, but they were undermanned when it came to height. 

“Actually, undermanned jud ang Dumaguete, gawas ana, ang mga players nag average lang ug 6’3 ang height paubos. So makaingon ko sa team nga undermanned mi ana nga aspect,” said Garcia.

(Actually, Dumaguete is undermanned. Aside from that, the average height of the players are 6’3” down. So we can say that the team is undermanned in that aspect.)

Garcia and former Jaguars

He is also very happy to reunite with former Jaguars in Cesafi MVP Jaybie Mantilla, James Regalado and Mannie Gabas. He said that these players were already familiar with the Jaguars’ system, and he was also familiar with their basketball skills. 

Garcia also mentioned that it would be easier for him to handle and make adjustments despite the team’s struggles — only winning one in five games. 

“Naa si Jaybie Mantilla, gamay tuod na siya nga taw pero dakog kasing-kasing. Naa sad si Mannie Gabas ug James Regalado nga naa pud talents along sa uban players sa Dumaguete. Silang tanan mo laban man jud. Talentwise nakita man nako naa man kamao manuwa, dili lang sila ka sustain especially sa ending situations,” he said.

(There is Jaybie Mantilla, a small man but with a big heart. There are also Mannie Gabas and James Regalado who have talents along with the other players of Dumaguete. All of them can compete. Talentwise I can see that there are players who really know how to play the game. They, however, cannot sustain this competitiveness especially in ending situations.)

READ: KCS-Mandaue outlasts gallant Dumaguete Warriors in VisMin Super Cup

Small adjustments – Garcia

He revealed that he met with the players and told them that there would be no major changes in their current plays and sets. Instead, he would just improve on them. 

“Adjustments lang gamay. Puhon-puhon kung ako man jud makadala sa team, naa lang adjustments para sa mga actual situations. Late na kaayo karon mo himo ug dagko nga adjustments kay wala naman mi maka practice ug dugay. Ako sila gi ingnan nga sa inyong experience dili namo maglisud pasabton sa mga adjustments nga himuon nako kay nakaduwa na gud mo ug MPBL, PBA D-League, NCAA, ug UAAP. So, dali ra mo pasabton,” he said.

(There will be small adjustments. In the future, if I will be the one handling the team, we can make adjustments for actual situations. Now it will be too late to make major adjustments because we don’t have time to practice for a longer time. I told them that with your experience you can understand the adjustments that I am going to make because you have played in the MPBL, PBA D-League, NCAA, and UAAP. So, it will not be difficult for you to understand this.)

He still sees the silver lining in his team despite their current struggle to rack up wins. Currently, the Warriors sit at the fifth spot with,1-4 record in the team standings.

“Realistically, nakita nako sa mga previous duwa nila nga okay man, mo laban jud sila pero undermanned man gud sila mao di sila ka sustain. Mo collapse jud sila sa mga ending situations. Nakita nako nga drained ang mga players, pero buhaton nato tanan nga maka adjust ta sa mga sunod nga duwa,” he said.

(Realistically, I saw in their previous games na they can compete but they are undermanned so they cannot sustain this. They will collapse in the ending situations. I saw that the players were drained so I will do my best so that they can adjust in the next games.)

Garcia is expected to enter the bubble tomorrow and helm the head coaching task immediately if his COVID-19 test yields negative. 

The Warriors will play against the ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu City Heroes at 7:00 PM.

/dbs

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