cj_lo
Sep 27, 2004, 04:19 PM
Bong Alvarez, Jun Limpot and Nelson Asaytono are among living persons who are anytime ready to give testaments how cruel a coach Loreto "Ato" Tolentino can be.
These basketball superstars, at one time or another, experienced severe tongue-lashing from Tolentino in their stints as University of Manila players. But they say they were lucky because the others even drew physical contacts from the unreasonably-strict mentor.
Tolentino admits doing it, saying it’s his way of instilling discipline to his players, and thinks that’s the key in all the successes he has reaped in coaching.
"Old school ako at hindi ako gumagaya sa American style. Asian style ang coaching ko. Gumagamit ako ng disiplina para lumabas ang galing ng mga players ko," said Tolentino, who is currently the toast of collegiate coaching in the land today.
Tolentino has just made an unprecedented record of steering two different teams to championships in their respective varsity leagues in the same year as he won for the Philippine Christian University the NCAA crown and for University of Manila the NAASCU title.
For the Dolphins, Tolentino, who just took over from Jimmy Mariano this season, engineered a huge turnaround from a tail-end finish the previous year.
For the Hawks, the Dinalupihan, Bataan native completed a "four-peat" championship via a sweet sweep. The Hawks swept their 20 games in the season and 73 games overall since NAASCU’s inception in 2001.
Before this double-championship, Tolentino has delivered countless titles for UM, including three in the national inter-collegiate championships and one in the Asian university games.
"Wala naman akong sikreto, kung hindi disiplina lang talaga sa players. Kung kailangan manakit ako para lumabas ang laro ng mga players ginagawa ko. Ang madalas na nadidisiplina ko yung mga players nagkukulay suka sa laro," he said.
"Nakakatikim sa akin ang mga players ko, pero parang palo iyon ng magulang sa anak. Ang magulang namamalo ng anak dahil mahal niya ito," he explained.
A former King Hawk himself who starred for Presto Ice Cream in the PBA before Bogs Adornado, Ricky Brown, Manny Victorino and Allan Caidic came in, Tolentino considers his father Patricio and his brief stint in the Air Force as the biggest influences in his being a disciplinarian.
"Anim kaming lalaking magkakapatid, pero walang lumabas na ********* dahil sa disiplina ng tatay ko," he said.
Tolentino, however, thinks his style won’t fit in the PBA that he’s not entertaining hopes of landing a job in the pro league. He said: "Hindi ko na iniisip iyan dahil iba ang labanan diyan. Maraming teams diyan players ang nasusunod, eh hindi pwede sa akin iyan."
His remaining goals in his career? "Gusto ko makapag-coach at mag-champion din ako sa UAAP. Siyempre gusto ko rin humawak ng national team. Ibigay lang sa akin iyan, pagtratrabahuhan ko nang husto," said Tolentino, who served as Arlene Rodriguez’s assistant coach in the 1995 ABC championship.
He thinks he can be an asset to the national team. "Di ba yung coaching staff natin (Boyzie Zamar and Dong Vergeire of the Cebuana Lhuillier-backed RP pool) pinagmamalaki yung nakita nila sa Korea. Sobra raw ang disiplina, nananakit ng players. Actually, hindi na nila kailangan pumunta sa Korea, pumunta lang sila sa UM nang makikita nila yan," he said.
Alvarez, Limpot and Asaytono can attest to that. These players together with Eugene Quilban, Joseph Pelaez, Biboy Simon, Banjo Calpito, Chris Bolado, Joel Dualan, Leo Avenido, Reynel Hugnatan and Jovito Sese are among players who passed through Tolentino’s programs for UM’s seniors and juniors basketball.
With this galaxy of stars he has produced, Tolentino, probably, doesn’t need to say more.
Definitely that's one heck of a job he has done Kudos to coach ato for a job well done!
Arriba Letran
These basketball superstars, at one time or another, experienced severe tongue-lashing from Tolentino in their stints as University of Manila players. But they say they were lucky because the others even drew physical contacts from the unreasonably-strict mentor.
Tolentino admits doing it, saying it’s his way of instilling discipline to his players, and thinks that’s the key in all the successes he has reaped in coaching.
"Old school ako at hindi ako gumagaya sa American style. Asian style ang coaching ko. Gumagamit ako ng disiplina para lumabas ang galing ng mga players ko," said Tolentino, who is currently the toast of collegiate coaching in the land today.
Tolentino has just made an unprecedented record of steering two different teams to championships in their respective varsity leagues in the same year as he won for the Philippine Christian University the NCAA crown and for University of Manila the NAASCU title.
For the Dolphins, Tolentino, who just took over from Jimmy Mariano this season, engineered a huge turnaround from a tail-end finish the previous year.
For the Hawks, the Dinalupihan, Bataan native completed a "four-peat" championship via a sweet sweep. The Hawks swept their 20 games in the season and 73 games overall since NAASCU’s inception in 2001.
Before this double-championship, Tolentino has delivered countless titles for UM, including three in the national inter-collegiate championships and one in the Asian university games.
"Wala naman akong sikreto, kung hindi disiplina lang talaga sa players. Kung kailangan manakit ako para lumabas ang laro ng mga players ginagawa ko. Ang madalas na nadidisiplina ko yung mga players nagkukulay suka sa laro," he said.
"Nakakatikim sa akin ang mga players ko, pero parang palo iyon ng magulang sa anak. Ang magulang namamalo ng anak dahil mahal niya ito," he explained.
A former King Hawk himself who starred for Presto Ice Cream in the PBA before Bogs Adornado, Ricky Brown, Manny Victorino and Allan Caidic came in, Tolentino considers his father Patricio and his brief stint in the Air Force as the biggest influences in his being a disciplinarian.
"Anim kaming lalaking magkakapatid, pero walang lumabas na ********* dahil sa disiplina ng tatay ko," he said.
Tolentino, however, thinks his style won’t fit in the PBA that he’s not entertaining hopes of landing a job in the pro league. He said: "Hindi ko na iniisip iyan dahil iba ang labanan diyan. Maraming teams diyan players ang nasusunod, eh hindi pwede sa akin iyan."
His remaining goals in his career? "Gusto ko makapag-coach at mag-champion din ako sa UAAP. Siyempre gusto ko rin humawak ng national team. Ibigay lang sa akin iyan, pagtratrabahuhan ko nang husto," said Tolentino, who served as Arlene Rodriguez’s assistant coach in the 1995 ABC championship.
He thinks he can be an asset to the national team. "Di ba yung coaching staff natin (Boyzie Zamar and Dong Vergeire of the Cebuana Lhuillier-backed RP pool) pinagmamalaki yung nakita nila sa Korea. Sobra raw ang disiplina, nananakit ng players. Actually, hindi na nila kailangan pumunta sa Korea, pumunta lang sila sa UM nang makikita nila yan," he said.
Alvarez, Limpot and Asaytono can attest to that. These players together with Eugene Quilban, Joseph Pelaez, Biboy Simon, Banjo Calpito, Chris Bolado, Joel Dualan, Leo Avenido, Reynel Hugnatan and Jovito Sese are among players who passed through Tolentino’s programs for UM’s seniors and juniors basketball.
With this galaxy of stars he has produced, Tolentino, probably, doesn’t need to say more.
Definitely that's one heck of a job he has done Kudos to coach ato for a job well done!
Arriba Letran