Green Journal: Cholo Villanueva v.1

After plying his trade with different teams on various levels, DLSU Lady Archers head coach Cholo Villanueva is finally home. Many remember Villanueva from his time with the Green Archers, wherein the 2007 UAAP co-Finals MVP took down the previously undefeated UE Red Warriors in UAAP Season 70 along with JVee Casio, TY Tang, and Rico Maierhofer. Since then, Villanueva has moved on to the PBL, and then eventually to the PBA after being drafted third in the second round, 13^th overall by the Burger King Whoppers back in 2008. After a short playing career with the Whoppers, Air21 Express, and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, Villanueva moved on to the coaching ranks, coaching several schools such as St. Jude and JRU, and even DLSU’s Team B.

Fast forward to 2015, when Villanueva is now the head coach of the Lady Archers after taking over from Tyrone Bautista. Now in the thick of preparations for Season 78, Villanueva shares with The LaSallian his thoughts on what he and his team are doing, how far they’ve come, and what his expectations are for the coming season.

With the UAAP just around the corner, we’re still a work in progress. We are not yet in the game shape that we want to be in on opening day. We also have to work on decision making, chemistry, and rhythm on the flow of the game. Through the practices and the tuneup games, I think we’ll be ready for our first game.

Slowly from day one the Lady Archers were open to change and I saw their willingness to learn. They are progressing and developing just in time for the UAAP season. One of the difficulties the team had initially was learning my system and creating the new habits needed to flourish in the system. Through repetition and learning slowly, they are grasping what I want them to do, and they were able to overcome it and get better from there.

Right now, I’m happy seeing how the Lady Archers are playing the right way and how they are playing as a unit with a common goal. Their unselfishness and how they are putting their egos aside to play for the name in front of their jerseys is something I am pleased with.

Of course coming from winning teams during my tenure here in La Salle, it has given me the knowledge on how to prepare the Lady Archers the right way. It takes sacrifice, hard work, smarts, and a sense of family within the team concept to achieve that winning culture.

The top two teams from last year are NU and FEU. Every year, both these teams show up in every game ready to win. NU won the championship in convincing fashion while FEU dethroned us from the final by beating us twice in the semifinals. I’m looking forward to facing both teams given that I see them as this year’s contenders, and also for us to see how far we’ve come as a team.