By JONAS TERRADO
Blackwater coach Nash Racela raved the progress his team had made before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the PBA to suspend the season after just one game.
Racela felt the Elite were making slow steps in terms of trying to be competitive when the suspension denied them of giving them a chance to immediately showcase those improvements.
“We always believe in the saying that slow progress is still progress,” Racela said during a recent appearance in the Coaches Unfiltered vodcast alongside brother Olsen.
“Okay lang sa amin as long as day-to-day we improve, so that was our mindset before the pandemic and we were happy on how we were developing as a team, unti-unti naming nakikita,” he added.
The Elite were supposed to debut against crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in Bataan last March 14 but the league announced its decision three days prior to put the season on hiatus due to the increase number of COVID-19 positives.
Racela was tapped in hopes of improving Blackwater’s chances after an up-and-down 2019 campaign. The former Far Eastern University coach made his pro return after a stint with TNT KaTropa from 2016 to 2018.
“If you watched us during our first tuneup game, tambak kami, nakakahiya, pero towards the end of February, mas gumaganda na yung takbo namin. Again, as long as we focus on those things na slow growth, okay kami. Tingin ko in time, magiging competitive din ang Blackwater,” he said.
But that will still depend if when PBA teams can resume practice despite an approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force and the issue surrounding the team’s future in the pro ranks.
Blackwater was fined P100,000 by PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial after team owner Dioceldo Sy claimed that the team held practice while observing strict health measures sans the go signal of the league and the Games and Amusements Board.
Sy later declared that he will put the franchise up for sale for minimum of P150 million but has since mellowed down and reached out to GAB officials and Marcial.
The PBA is currently looking into Sy’s comments relating to his plans to sell the team.
