First-year coach Sean Chambers goes hard on his players as the FEU Tamaraws chase a spot in the semis of UAAP Season 87.
In the world of competitive sports, there’s always room for tough love.
That is exactly what first-year head coach Sean Chambers does for his wards, the FEU Tamaraws, as they continued to push for a spot in the Final Four of the ongoing UAAP Season 87 men’s tournament.
After a bleak 1-6 record in the first round, the Tamaraws have come alive as they now hold a 4-2 slate in the latter half of the season. Still in the running for the semis at 5-8, it’s all been about subscribing to Chambers’ approach to the game.
[RELATED: UAAP: FEU pulls off season sweep vs Ateneo to send Blue Eagles to the brink]
“I’m so proud of these guys. Like I said last game, I’ve been pretty tough on them in practice and I sent them a message today on our chat line that says I’m hard on discipline because I love you. If I don’t love you, I won’t discipline you, but I want the best for you,” said Chambers after their 65-54 win over Ateneo on Saturday.
“And these guys have responded amazingly. Their response has been amazing. They’re good kids, they’re disciplined, and they wanna win.”
Flanked by a team of nine rookies, FEU has shown a lot of fight in the season. Though still having some growing pains along the way, Chambers is mostly satisfied at how they’ve been developing through the year.
“Sometimes, we kind of got out of the things we do. But I think at the end of they kept fighting and our goal was to finally see: can we beat a team twice in the tournament? So that was the big thing for today, and it continued to grow from our last win, so now we’re at five [wins],” he said.
Among their setbacks was the loss against the DLSU Green Archers during their last outing. But faced with similar circumstances against the Blue Eagles, the Tamaraws were able to respond better.
“We know we came ready during that game against La Salle, you know, we kind of gave it away but we learn from it. And so, we’re coming from that game against La Salle, that’s why we were able to perform at the end of the game against Ateneo today,” said Chambers, who also saw multiple players step up to the plate in the victory.
“Janrey [Pasaol] has just been playing tremendous basketball. Rojan [Montemayor] has been earning his minutes in practice and so, I don’t know. I’m just so happy. I’m proud of them.” he added.
Pasaol finished with career-high outings in both scoring and assists with 14 points and six dimes. He also had seven boards and two steals.
Montemayor chipped in 13 markers, three rebounds, one assist, and one block.
Meanwhile, Mo Konateh finished with a double-double of 11 points and 21 rebounds. Jorick Bautista and Royce Alforque also had eight points apiece.
Ateneo, meanwhile, who are now on the brink of elimination from Final Four contention, were paced by Ian Espinosa’s 14 points in the losing effort. The Blue Eagles’ semis fates are hanging in the balance in the ongoing game between the UE Red Warriors and the UST Growling Tigers.
Ateneo is dead last in the standings at 3-9.