MANILA, Philippines – Petro Gazz captain Remy Palma reiterated the value of trust in Coach Koji Tsuzurabara’s system as the Angels strengthened their semis bid in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday.
With a quick win over the slumping Cignal HD Spikers to improve to 7-2 in the tightly contested standings, Tsuzurabara’s prowess in shuffling his players was once again on display, as he used all but two of his players in the three-set victory.
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As the long conference progresses, Palma said it was pivotal that she and the rest of the Angels understood the Japanese coach’s reasoning with the way he subs his players in and out as a match progresses.
“Unang una, maliban dun sa nagiging efficient yung energy, siguro, kailangan muna namin pagkatiwalaan yung system na gusto niyang mangyari every game kasi yun po yung mahirap,” Palma said.
“Minsan kasi, bakit ako [wala sa loob]? Minsan naiisip mo yun eh. So ngayon, tiwala lang. Tiwala doon sa sistema ng coach, tiwala doon sa decision niya kasi minsan ‘di ba, ‘di namin naiisip kung anong rason pero kapag binalasa na niya, ah okay [nakikita na namin], yun pala yung reason niya,” she added.
The Angels have an arguably deep bench, and with Tsuzurabara’s strategy, the PVL powerhouse is able to maximize all their assets.
Still, Palma reiterates that each and every player on the Angels’ roster stays ready each and every outing and with a potential semis campaign in the future, they’ll need to work harder than ever.
“Sa pa-condition naman, hindi naman po dahil hindi nasasagad sa [laro], kailangan pa rin po namin magtriple effort lalo na papasok na ng semis, hopefully magsemis kami, magiging round robin, mas mahabang labanan, mas mahihirap yung kalaban, and syempre ‘di ka pwedeng mag-easy easy lang so tuloy pa rin po,” she said.
But first, the Angels will still need to complete their elimination round campaign — with games remaining against the Galeries Tower High Risers and the NXLED Chameleons. Though the competition may be a little bit more lightweight, Palma is in no way letting her guard down.
“Need po namin ma-carry over yung momentum na makukuha namin sa mga susunod pa naming games and also yun nga, ‘di kami pwedeng magrelax, ‘di kami pwedeng parang ‘di naman dahil 7-2 kami ngayon, safe na yun, ‘di pa rin namin pwede i-instill sa sarili namin yun. So magwowork hard pa rin talaga kami,” she said.
The Angels return to action on Saturday, April 20, at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.