Ravena's return won't guarantee win, coach says

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo head coach Bo Perasol is looking forward to Kiefer Ravena's return to the Blue Eagles' line-up, but warned that playing the former Rookie of the Year will not guarantee victory.

Ateneo, the five-time defending UAAP champions, are off to a 0-3 start in Season 76 with Ravena having played only eight minutes due to a high ankle sprain he suffered a week before the start of the tournament.

"Sabi niya he can play next week," Perasol said of Ravena. "But then again... that's still another game. Hindi naman 'yan na automatic win just because he goes back."

"All the other teams will just be as strong. In the onset, even with Kiefer still in our line-up, we were not even rated there," he added.

Moreover, Perasol believes the Blue Eagles have the capability of winning without Ravena, but have lacked the finishing touch in their last two games.

"I still believe that even without Kiefer, we can win. We can win games," he said. "In these two games, we really had a good chance to win, it's just we weren't able to finish it."

Ateneo lost its first game of the season against National University, with Ravena playing only eight minutes and scoring two points. They then lost in overtime to the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, and squandered a double-digit halftime lead en route to a loss at the hands of arch-rivals De La Salle.

Perasol said he will take the blame for the Blue Eagles' poor start even as he stressed that his players are accountable to him.

"I had to tell (the players), sabi ko sa kanila, you cannot have any problems with being ashamed of being 0-3," he said. "When you go out there, always tell them that it's going to be my accountability."

"Tell them 'Just blame my coach.' My point is, my players should always be accountable to me... and the result of any game should always be my responsibility," he added.

"(The players) are accountable to me, but as far as the people, the community, the fans, I am accountable to them."

Perasol stressed that his players still believe that they can turn things around in time.

"I just asked them if they still believe that they can win, and they said kaya pa nila," he said.