The success of the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors against rivals Southwestern University (SWU) hinges on their ability to get off to a fast start.
This was the blunt assessment of assistant coach Julian Macoy after watching his team fall behind early in the championship game against the Cobras in the Asian University Basketball Championship last Sunday at the Cebu City Sports Institute.
Macoy, a legend in the annals of Philippine basketball after scoring more than 100 points twice in his USC career capped by a whopping 126-output in just 28 minutes against Cebu Trade School back in 1957 in the defunct Cebu Collegiate Athletic Association, reiterated the team’s need to avoid falling behind early like it did in the deciding Game 5 of the Cesafi finals and once again in the winner-take-all AUBC finals.
“We really can’t afford to fall behind early. If you notice, when we fall behind by a huge margin to the Cobras early, we end up losing,” said Macoy, referring to their 8-19 start in the aforementioned Game 5 and the 12-25 deficit in the AUBC championship game.
Though the Warriors managed to come close late last Sunday, they eventually ran out of time and lost.
Macoy added that they are now scouring far and wide for additional big men who can help them down low.
He also made mention that the addition of former Cesafi juniors MVP Nikee Montalvo will help the squad because of the latter’s ability to play several positions.
USC will get another crack at SWU in the upcoming Philippine Collegiate Champions League when the two face off on Nov. 14.
The Warriors are bracketed in Group A along with UAAP champions National University, NCAA runners-up Arellano University and the winner of the Luzon-Manila qualifiers.
USC will be taking on Far Eastern University on Nov. 13, San Beda on Nov. 15 and the University of the Visayas on Nov. 17.