Josh Lazaro thinks Ateneo should work on team composure

The Ateneo Blue Eagles went home without a win despite drastic efforts during their match against the UST Growling Tigers.

Ateneo veteran Josh Lazaro has surprised many with his performance just two games into Season 87 with numbers of 18 points, 4 assists, and 10 rebounds on the game against UST, and 11-3-11 against UP. On both outings, he also impressively knocked down more than 40% of his shots from all levels of scoring with an insane 61.5% field goal shooting against the Pido Jarencio-led squad.

However, he is disappointed that they couldn’t bag a win, dropping to both UP and UST.

“We lost, so not so good. Pero we’re a young team, and I feel like in the past two games, we’ve been learning a lot naman, especially the young guys.”

He added:

“Kasi mahirap eh, it’s a big stage, they really need the experience, they’ve been getting that naman, pero we’re here to win games.”

Despite the disappointing results, Lazaro remains proud of the efforts that his team has been putting in every game.

“I think I’m proud of the team. The past two games, we’ve been doing well, following the system. Pero syempre both were losses so there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Ateneo surely has things they have to work on in order to snatch a win, especially with defending champion DLSU next on their schedule. Lazaro said that the thing they have been lacking on is consistency with composure.

“It’s a young team, so the number one thing we need to work on is composure. What I noticed in the past two games, by the 4th quarter, doon na medyo bumibigay ‘yong team eh. And that’s because ‘yong composure namin nawawala.”

Lazaro has been thankful of how the team has been helping each other, especially with a focus on mental preparations.

“Kasi sa trainings namin ngayon, it’s less physical and more mental na eh. I think they help me a lot kasi nilalaro namin ‘yong game plan ng kalaban.”

Lazaro also shared that they’re planning to bounce back by garnering lessons from each game despite the short time of preparation given.

“It’s just same for every game. We try to prepare as much as we could, given the short time before the next game. Hopefully next time we get better results.”

The Ateneo Blue Eagles will be facing the De La Salle Green Archers on September 15, Sunday a historical rivalry anticipated by many.

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