‘It’s not Chamba, It’s Chambers’: Tough Tamaraws Love from Sean

FEU Head Coach Sean Chambers showed tough love toward his team.

He entered their Friday practice with a single intention. He wanted the Tamaraws to understand how much more effort they still had in them even when their legs felt heavy. The message came straight from what he saw in their previous outing against NU, a game that exposed habits he refused to let slide.

“We left a little bit on the court,” he said. “We missed on a loose ball, we didn’t get on the ground, and we just missed on some plays.”

Instead of brushing off those lapses, Chambers shaped an entire practice around facing them. The first 20 minutes had nothing to do with schemes or shooting. It was fatigue training. Hard running. Long lines. A pace that pushed players to the edge before they could even think about execution.

“We got warmed up, and we hit the lines, and we ran. And I told them, now we’re going to practice tired,” he shared. “They realized how much effort they still have available once they’re tired.”

Only then did the Tamaraws touch a basketball and run through their sets. The goal was to condition the mind as much as the body, something Chambers has preached since taking over the program in 2024. He has repeated throughout the season that losing isn’t acceptable unless the team gives everything, and he wants that standard to show in every possession.

“So at the end of the game, we were able to keep battling down the stretch when we were tired.”

That work showed in their game against the DLSU Green Archers, one of the league’s most experienced and disciplined teams. When the game turned into a series of counters and adjustments, FEU didn’t slip into the old habits that cost them in previous seasons. They stayed composed, even as the pressure rose.

“La Salle’s a championship team,” Chambers said.

“We knew they were going to continue with their ball pressure. And we’re a young team, and we knew they were going to make a run.”

But unlike past games, the Tamaraws held firm.

“That was growth from us, and that was help from NU’s game,” he noted. “They made a run. Don’t panic, stay solid, and then battle through it.”

Even when Mo Konateh picked up his fourth foul, a moment that could have easily rattled a young group still learning how to finish games, FEU stayed steady.

“We could have panicked and collapsed. But we showed some good maturity this time and fought through it.”

For Chambers, this moment wasn’t just about tactics. It was about identity. Since arriving at FEU, he has tried to install a culture built on effort, toughness, and connection. His approach echoes what he often says about drawing from his days as a player, where energy and commitment were nonnegotiable.

“You want the kids to feed off how you used to be as a coach, as a player,” he said. “If you’re going to push and go hard like that, you want your kids to go as hard with you.”

And on that day, he saw a team respond in a way that matched the standard he has been pushing since the start.

“So they have to kind of take my energy and what I was as a player and how I am as a coach. And they did that today.”

In those first 20 minutes of practice without a ball, the Tamaraws found something they had been missing: the belief that they can sustain effort when it matters most. As the season moves forward, that shift may be the spark that carries them deeper than anyone expected.

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