SWU coach Yayoy Alcoseba says Cobras need to be tougher, more focused in Manila
Even though the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras managed to book a trip to the Final Four of the 2013 National Collegiate Championship after beating rivals University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, 68-60, last Wednesday, head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba remains far from satisfied especially with their recent endgame struggles.
With barely two weeks to go before the start of the semifinal round of this competition in Manila, Alcoseba aims to right the ship, especially after struggling to keep double-digit leads in games against the University of San Carlos (USC) and UV in the stepladder phase of the NCC that was held in Cebu earlier this week.
Against the Warriors, SWU established an 18-point lead but had it whittled down to a single point before getting contributions from Daryl Goloran and Monbert Arong to pull off an 82-73 win.
The same debacle also repeated itself in their finals game against the Lancers as what was a huge 25-point advantage got trimmed down to four with less than two minutes to go in that match. Fortunately for the Cobras, Arong and import Landry Sanjo stepped up down the stretch to help them get the win.
“The team has gotten better, skill-wise but we still lack the mental focus and experience,” Alcoseba said.
The multi-titled coach, who also happens to be a Provincial Board Member, expressed his satisfaction with the team’s efforts in building that huge cushion but added that they need to toughen up some more if they are to be successful in their upcoming campaign, which will pit them against the likes of La Salle, San Beda and a still-to-be-determined team from Manila.
“It just shows the potential our team has when we are focused on our game plan, but again it is the lack of experience that makes the endgame difficult for us but hopefully, they have learned their lesson and continue to improve as a team and individually. I’m confident that the boys will represent the school well and I know they will play hard” Alcoseba added.
