Ayo: Blame me, coaching staff for loss to Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines – After watching his DLSU Green Archers suffer their first loss of UAAP Season 79 to the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Saturday, November 5, head coach Aldin Ayo said the blame falls on him and his coaching staff for not better preparing their team.

“Siguro if there’s someone to blame, ako yun. Actually hindi lang ako. The whole coaching staff. Kasi yung mga bata, they’re doing their best,” Ayo said, after being asked if Ateneo displayed more effort in the win.

(I guess if there’s someone to blame, it’s me. Actually, not just me. The whole coaching staff. Because the players, they’re doing their best.)

The Blue Eagles shot 51% from the field and limited their rivals to 29% shooting. Ateneo also won the rebounding battle, 48-43, and had more assists, 20-10.

Ayo insisted that his boys gave their best effort in the contest, but he wasn’t able to properly prepare the Green Archers, who lost for the first time in 13 games and was out-scored every quarter.

“Responsibility ko ‘yun, responsibility ng coaching staff. ‘Yung mga bata naman, binibigay naman lahat nila. Ano papagawa namin, for sure gagawin ng mga bata, so siguro kulang lang ‘yung pinagawa namin, kaya ganoon ang situation.”

(That’s my responsibility, the responsibility of the coaching staff. The boys, they give their all. What we make them execute, they execute, so I guess what we told them to do wasn’t enough, which is why that was situation.)

La Salle looked rusty on both ends of the floor, allowing Ateneo open scoring opportunities while looking lost multiple times on offense. Aside from a low shooting percentage, DLSU also converted only 5-of-26 from deep and hit only 20-of-31 from the foul stripe.

“’Yung stretch na one week, 3 games kami, tapos having a 10-day break, kahit sa ensayo iba ‘yung naging galaw ng mga bata,” Ayo said.

(We had a stretch of 3 games in one week, then we had a 10-day break, so even during practice the boys weren’t moving like how they usually do.)

Ayo also said that he’s looking at the positives from the defeat, which includes La Salle’s erstwhile undefeated streak coming to an end in the elimination round instead of later on.

“I always think of the positive….Kung na-sweep namin ito, tapos magkakaroon ng (If we swept the eliminations, then there’s going to be a) 21-day break for us, tapos mas (then it’s more) crucial – championship – I’d rather this kind of situation that we’re in.”

The Green Archers will take a break from practice on Sunday then will start preparing for their next opponent – the FEU Tamaraws – on Monday.

“Siyempre (Of course) they feel bad, pero ang sabi ko sa kanila (but what I told them was), ‘You have to savor whatever feeling na meron, kasi (that’s there, because) it will help us a lot,’” Ayo said about the mood of his players in the locker room post-game.

He also explained that the loss to Ateneo, which is now 7-4 and assured of the Final Four, will help in the long run.

“Kahit may makatalo sa amin (Even if someone beat us), [or] this is our first loss, we’re still a team and I think mas makakatulong sa amin ito (this will help us more) in terms of bonding and in terms of ‘yung (the) motivation.”  – Rappler.com