Bucao, Talisay confident in winning Gullas Cup title in Minglanilla
Ronald Bucao giving instructions to his players during a timeout in the Rhea Gullas Cup finals. | Photo from Gullas Cup Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Veteran coach Ronald Bucao of Talisay Aksyon Agad firmly believes they can pull off a monumental upset at the Minglanilla Sports Complex as they face the home team, Abante Minglanilla, in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Rhea Gullas Cup First District of Cebu Inter-City/Municipality Basketball Tournament Best-of-Three finals tomorrow, Saturday, March 23, at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
Bucao and Talisay evened the series, 1-1, forcing the Game 3 rubber match tomorrow, last March 16, after beating Minglanilla, 80-78, at their home court, the Talisay City Sports Complex.
The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers coach believes that they are highly motivated and entirely focused on beating Minglanilla at its home court.
“As a coach dako among chance na modaug. bsag ilaha mn ang homecourt advantage ug ang crowd himoon na namu nga motivation nga mo all out ang mga bata for tomorrow’s game,” Bucao told CDN Digital.
Bucao revealed that he focuses on preparing his players’ stamina so they can sustain a back-and-forth battle against Minglanilla all the way to the final buzzer, as this scenario became prevalent in their previous meetings in the Gullas Cup.
“In terms sa preparation ni focus ko sa stamina sa mga bata nga ma ka sustain sila until sa end sa duwa. also ang ila pod mental state nga moduwa lang gyud sila sa ilang game ug dili magpadala sa pressure especially homecourt sa Minglanilla,” said Bucao.
However, it’s easier said than done, as Talisay won’t just be facing Minglanilla at the latter’s home court. They will also face the brunt of the home crowd that will likely fill the Minglanilla Sports Complex up to its last seat.
In Game 1 of the finals, Minglanilla beat them 67-72 last March 9 at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
This time, they return there for the last time this season with the hopes of winning the title.
In an earlier interview, Minglanilla’s head coach, Boyet Velez, said that their home crowd will be a massive factor in tomorrow’s game, which will tip off at 7 p.m.
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