Sa halip na kalungkutan, kasiyahan ang nadarama ni Far Eastern University head coach Nash Racela sa apat na taong panunugkulang sa Tamaraws.

Kahit nabigo sa Ateneo Blue Eagles sa kanilang Final Four mtch up, taas-noo si Racela sa ipinamalas na kagitingan nang nasibak na kampeon.

“Well-fought game. You have to be proud of yourselves, you stand tall because I know you did your best and you really made it tough for the other team,” pahayag ni Racela patungkol sa kanyang mga players sa post game interview.

“Ganoon talaga eh!. One team wins, one team loses, we were a second short or maybe a rebound short. So…but it doesn’t take away anything from all of us. You win some, you lose some. Ang importante, buhay pa tayo di ba, Raymar?,” pahayag ni Racela, patungkol sa graduating skipper na si Reymar Jose.

May cash incentives din; Karl Eldrew Yulo, tumanggap ng ₱500K mula kay Chavit!

Napakalaki ng pagbabagong nagawa ni Racela para sa Tamaraws mula nang manahin niya ang posisyon mula kay coach Bert Flores may apat na taon na ang nakalilipas.

Sa nasabing apat na taon, dalawang beses niyang naihatid ang koponan sa Finals at napagkampeon sa nakalipas na Season. Kabilang sa kampeong Tams sina Mac Belo, Mike Tolomia at Roger Pogoy na pawang mga miyembro na ngayon ng Gilas Cadet at may career na sa PBA.

Buong pagmamalaking sinabi ng Tamaraws mentor na hindi matatawaran ang nagawa ng bawat isa sa kabila nang pagkawala ng tatlong player.

“As a coach, sometimes you don’t really look at the wins or losses. Sometimes even if you win but nakita mo na 60% lang ang binibigay ng players mo, you don’t like that. Today, even if we lost, I know they gave more than a hundred.

So I was so proud of how we played today and how we performed the whole season,” paliwanag ni Racela.

“I think it’s a character trait of FEU, being resilient in everything. These guys found a way to perform, these guys found a way to get better as the season went along. I think we all deserve to be in the finals too, hindi lang nangyari.”

Ang naturang katangian, ang tiyak na iiwan ni Racela sa kanyang paglisan sa koponan upang harapin ang bagong yugto ng kanyang buhay bilang bagong coach ng Talk N Text sa PBA.

At inaasahan niyang may mangyayaring maganda para sa koponan na dulot ng aral na napulot ng kanyag players sa natamong kabiguan.

“I don’t want my stint with FEU to be defined by this last game. I think we did well with the program, and I know a lot of positive things will come after. Si Roger (Pogoy) nga sabi sa inyo, it’s the same feeling we had in 2014 when we lost to NU but we came back the following year. That’s a good motivation for all of us, and it’s good that our players are experiencing those things at an early stage. There’s always a positive that comes out of all these things.” (Marivic Awitan)