Behind Sobe Buena’s productive UAAP Season 87 debut is the patience of head coach Sergio Veloso amid her minor injury recovery.
If Sobe Buena had her way, she would have made her UAAP Season 87 debut last February 19 as the Ateneo Blue Eagles locked horns with the NU Lady Bulldogs.
Buena missed Ateneo’s season opener against the Adamson Lady Falcons due to a left ankle sprain last February 13, and was raring to rejoin her team on the Taraflex. By this time, the Eagles had also been dealt with injuries to Zel Tsunahsima and Jlo Delos Santos, and needed all the help they could get to get back on their feet.
“I actually told [head coach Sergio Veloso] nung Wednesday [vs. NU] that I wanted to play already, and I felt like I could play already,” Buena recalled to The GAME after Ateneo’s first Season 87 win against the UP Lady Maroons.
But while Buena’s return could provide a much-needed boost, Veloso opted to stay patient with his third-year spiker’s injury recovery. Racking up wins are important, but so is the players’ health especially after losing Tsunashima and Delos Santos to unfortunate accidents.
“I wasn’t able to use her in the last two games, and in the warmups [against NU] I asked her ‘Sophie, how are you feeling? Because when you landed, I saw you and I wasn’t so confident’,” Veloso recalled post-game following Ateneo’s breakthrough win. “So I said ‘Sophie, you go out’, because for me, the players are more important. You need to be secure with them and you need to prevent their injuries.”
“When she can give me a good impression on the court and in the match, she can play. And Sophie, today, she played very well.”
Buena ended up providing a much-needed boost in Ateneo’s breakthrough win, finishing with a game-high 17 points and six excellent digs to join captain Lyann de Guzman (12 points) and AC Miner (14 points) against the Lady Maroons.
After her season debut, the third-year spiker made sure to acknowledge her head coach’s wisdom that goes beyond the tactical aspect of sports.
“I’m really grateful also because he tries to look out for us and I think he really just wanted the best for me also, and I think alam niya naman na hindi ko pa maipapakita ‘yung 100 percent ko in that game [versus NU]. And I’m grateful that he made that decision, because I think I was able to perform naman today,” she said in a follow-up chat.
“Even in trainings, he always asks me parang if I feel okay, he doesn’t ask me too much in training if nakikita niyang hinding-hindi ko pa kaya, and I think I’m really just grateful because I needed that, I was a bit impatient na rin na I wanted to get back into the game na nung Wednesday,” added Buena, who believes she is at “85 percent” in terms of her recovery.
Not over yet
Like the rest of her teammates, Sobe Buena will now dedicate the rest of her Season 87 performances to Tsunashima and Delos Santos as they embark on their respective recovery journeys.
Similar to team captain De Guzman, Buena knows that this year’s team will have each other as their support system in their uphill climb to Final Four contention.
“After what happened to Zel and Jlo, we all met as a team, we tried to talk about how we were still here for each other and parang pinag-usapan namin na dahil nga nangyari ‘yun, dapat lalo pa kaming mas maging naka-support sa isa’t isa. And we just really tried to assure each other na we’re still there for each other, na we really wanted [to win] also for them.”
And while Tsunashima and Delos Santos’ losses are a huge blow to the Eagles’ depth chart, Buena knows that her team still has what it takes to make some noise as the new UAAP season moves forward.
“I think our main goal for now is just to make it to the Final Four and I think it’s definitely doable as long as everyone continues to work hard in training and really show our best sa games,” she said.
Images courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.