ZUS Coffee head coach Jerry Yee expressed pride in the team's progress, but stressed the need for more consistency and cohesion as they continue their PVL on Tour campaign.
Over the past few months, the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles have made great progress in the PVL.
From their first franchise win to their first quarterfinals appearance in the 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference, the current run now has the team in the playoffs of the PVL on Tour and continuing to evolve under head coach Jerry Yee.
But despite a thrilling five-set comeback against the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, Yee insists they are far from their full potential.
“Always proud pag nagi-improve, masaya tayo, proud tayo, happy tayo, and hopefully magtuloy-tuloy lang,” Yee told reporters after the match.
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The veteran mentor acknowledged that the Thunderbelles now boast a much deeper roster, backed by the signing of Alyssa Eroa, Fiola Ceballos, and Maika Ortiz during the offseason.
Despite this, Yee believes they have yet to reach the level fit for a true cohesive unit.
“We basically have more talent, pero di pa kami team,” he admitted. “We have more names na magagamit, meron akong mga substitute kahit papano, eight, nine-man deep. Kulang pa eh. 'Di pa kami consistent. 'Di pa kami team. We’re trying.”
For Yee, the next step is to build consistency and sharpen in-game discipline.
“Dami eh. Like now, I would say 'yung mga reactions namin, hindi pa pang-consistent o pang-winning team," he explained.
"Execution namin, dami naming mga simpleng mali, magtitinginan, magtatawanan. Even 'yung court positioning namin, paminsan magdi-discuss, mag-aaway o magtatalo pa kami. We’re not there yet. We’re trying to.”
Still, there are bright spots that fuel his optimism, particularly the rise of players like Chinnie Arroyo, who led ZUS Coffee with 21 points in their knockout round victory.
“We have started from less ba? Less talented players, small players, parang ganun. Ngayon pa lang tayo nagkakaroon ng ganyan,” Yee said. “Happy tayo of course na nandiyan sila. Siyempre trabaho namin i-develop sila.”
The work only continues for Yee and the Thunderbelles as they gear up for a quarterfinal match against the PLDT High Speed Hitters on Thursday, August 7.