Having been out of the limelight for more than a decade, the DLSU Green Spikers will try to push themselves into the Final Four to improve their sixth place finish from last year. The team is still on the verge of reestablishing their cohesion and solidarity, considering the adaptation of a new system from the new coach and the departure of several veterans—giving them a loose grip of the title. With the emergence of the rookies, the team hopes to show off something different to upset the frontrunning opponents of the season.
“One game at a time,” says Team Captain Cris Dumago as the Green Spikers hope for a positive outcome from their preparations, entering the UAAP arena after having undergone several changes within the team.
Half baked
Recruiting rookies is essential for a team to fill the void of senior players who either exhausted their playing eligibility years or finished their degree in the University. Although this is usual, having seven rookies, like the case of the Green Spikers, would be difficult because of the huge adjustments to be made to compensate for the lack of experience of the added players.
With half of the team consisting of rookies, facing other teams with more UAAP veteran players would be challenging for them to climb up to the podium compared to last season when they had more senior players in the team. “Ngayon inaamin ko naman na underdog [kami]. Kami kasi sobrang daming g-rum-aduate sa amin, half ata ng teammate[s] ko puro rookies,” Dumago stated. Being an underdog would bear less pressure, but this will not discourage the team not to exert efforts to upset their opponents.
(Now, I admit we are the underdog because a lot have graduated from the team, and half of my teammates are all rookies.)
The Taft-based squad is also focused on deepening their bond everyday to develop their team chemistry for their upcoming games. With better playing and personal relationships, they are motivated to break expectations one game at a time.
Significant changes
New year, new line-up—with half of them being rookies who just started lacing up their shoes. More than that, a new coach also comes with a new system. Coach Arnold Naniog is now leading this era of the Green Spikers, and he knows that there is a lot of work to be done. “Kung titignan ‘yung period, sobrang short nun for us coaches na ma-implement namin o maituro namin yung gusto naming system,” Naniog explained after taking charge just two months ago.
(If you look at the period, it’s very short for us coaches to be able to implement and teach the system we want.)
Despite that, Naniog is confident that these new changes are just what the team needs to improve the track record the Green Spikers have. Moreover, another welcomed change would be Dumago’s change of heart. Last September the team captain left the Green Spikers and opted not to exhaust his last playing year in the UAAP. However, with Naniog’s persuasion and the promise of a better system and formation for the team, Dumago was convinced to come back and play one last time for the Green-and-White.
Naniog does not expect his team to perfect his system early on, but he hopes that his principles of giving all they can in each game would stick to his players. When asked about what key factors would procure a better season for the team, the head coach states, “Yung hard work namin as a team, atsaka nadadagdagan lagi yung bond namin everyday kasi parang pinapalalim pa namin yung samahan para mag-connect sa laro.”
(Our hard work as a team, and our bond is developed more everyday because we strive to deepen our relationship so we can connect during games.)
