Trae Young in the UAAP? New FEU coach Sean Chambers explains unique play-call placards
MANILA, Philippines – There were a lot of sights and stars to behold as the Adamson Soaring Falcons took on the FEU Tamaraws for their respective first games in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday, September 8.
Adamson head coach Nash Racela was doing his best to lead the Falcons in beating his old FEU team and its new, iconic shot-caller, legendary PBA import Sean Chambers.
Royce Mantua and Matty Erolon rained down triples for Adamson, while Tamaraw rookies VJ Pre and Janrey Pasaol flew all over the court with big minutes despite only being in their first UAAP college game.
Then there’s…Trae Young?
Much like his PBA glory days back in the 1990s, Chambers was again a head-turner in his return to the hardwood, not because of any athletic, crowd-wowing moves, but this time because of placards: big, can’t-miss placards with numbers, symbols, and the life-sized head of the NBA All-Star player.
UAAP | WATCH:
— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) September 8, 2024
Well, that's new.
First-time head coach and PBA legend Sean Chambers cranks up the innovations in his first UAAP game with the FEU Tamaraws, making use of giant placards with faces, symbols, and numbers to signal plays.#UAAPSeason87 pic.twitter.com/7MZ5AUrfnM
Immediately pursued by the media after an eventual 59-47 loss to Adamson, Chambers was all smiles and gamely explained despite quite a forgettable defeat to immediately blemish his UAAP coaching record.
“So if you watch American football, especially in college, [that is] one of the things they do because of the sound of the crowd and the noise. We’re trying to run a play for a specific player and they can’t hear me so we put up a sign, then they all know what that sign is,” said the 59-year-old former PBA Best Import.
“We have a play that’s actually called Trae Young, so there’s a big picture of Trae Young. We have a play that’s called Portland, so there’s the Portland Trailblazers symbol. Then everything else that we run. It’s just something that will help everybody understand because my goal is when we’re running the play, running the set, we all know what we’re doing especially when we’re trying to get to a specific player.”
Sure enough, the logic sticks. Borderline deafening noise is part and parcel of the whole Philippine collegiate sports experience, and basic conversations, even just for fans right next to one another, can get incredibly difficult at any given time due to relentless drum pounding.
Although the placards weren’t enough this time to translate to winning basketball, Chambers stayed firm and said the method will stick throughout the season.
FEU rookie VJ Pre, ex-Tamaraws coach Nash Racela react to unique coaching method
While highly touted FEU rookie VJ Pre admitted that the team was kept in the dark about the placards until game time, he also said they helped get the message across quickly for him and his teammates.
“At first, we were surprised coach Sean had something like this,” he said in Filipino. “As he said, it’s for us to see the play call better since when he talks, we really can’t hear him. I’m happy coach Sean is doing something like this.”
Adamson head coach Nash Racela, who knows all about taking FEU to the top as a UAAP Season 78 champion, likewise gave a positive reception to the innovative aura around Chambers, although he did joke that it makes opponents’ scouting jobs easier.
“I think FEU’s doing the right thing when they gave coach Sean a long contract because he has a lot of young players. They just have to be patient. I think in time they will grow,” he said.
“Imagine that group in the next five years. Imagine how they’ll be three years from now, five years from now. They might even be the team to beat. They just have to be patient.”
But of course, Chambers has already expected opponents to memorize his placard plays, so he said that he’s bound to change the cards up, and may even feature some pretty familiar faces in Philippine basketball history.
“That’s the secret, but we would change it up. Yeah, we’re running Trae Young, [but] we may come up with a different sign next time, or we’ll change the name of the player,” he continued.
“I’m sure we’ll have a Johnny [Abarrientos] play out there for sure, a Jojo Lastimosa, maybe a Jeffrey Cariaso when we run our jet play. We’ll use some of those guys, but we gotta keep the other coaches on their toes and not give them all our secrets.”
Placard plays in Philippine basketball is certainly a novel idea, but Chambers, having seen the best of both worlds here and in the US, was brave enough to shake things up for the sake of pushing FEU back to its own glory days, just like the Alaska Aces of old with him leading the charge.
Whether the method is effective or not, or if it will catch on with other teams remains to be seen, but at the very least, Chambers proved he wasn’t afraid to try anything that may help winning.
You don’t become a six-time PBA champion by being scared, after all. – Rappler.com