ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Collegiate devider Jeff Napa not satisfied with NU win over Adamson

Jeff Napa not satisfied with NU win over Adamson

Published Nov 9, 2025 10:09 am

At A Glance

  • National University head coach Jeff Napa knew the brand of basketball they played against a gritty Adamson side would never take them to places they wanted to be.
National University head coach Jeff Napa knew the brand of basketball they played against a gritty Adamson side would never take them to places they wanted to be.
Though the Bulldogs managed to survive the Falcons with a 66-65 win Saturday, Nov. 19, which secured themselves a ticket in the Final Four, Napa wasn't satisfied with the way they responded to the challenge.
Trailing behind for the majority of the contest, it only took some clutch plays from Jake Figueroa and Mark Parks to bail them out and steal the match for a league-best 9-2 record.
In this kind of game Napa has realized they are far from what they wished to be.
“Alam mo ‘yong panalo ka pero pakiramdam mo talo ka, kasi ‘yong Adamson talagang binigay nila ‘yong best nila. They came out prepared and ready, ” said Napa.
“Siguro ‘yong basketball gods lang talaga ni-bless pa rin kami despite we played a bad game,” he added. “Kinakatok lang talaga kami… na we need to level up our game, dito [sa second round] mare-recognize kung ano ba talaga kami.”
Napa, who also serves as an assistant coach for Terrafirma Dyip in the PBA, acknowledged Adamson’s defensive scheme and emphasized that the Bulldogs would take it as a lesson heading into their upcoming assignments.
“Given na ‘yan… ewan ko ba kung bakit pag Adamson, ganun ‘yong game namin, pero credit sa kanila. They played terrific defense talaga, kaya nga No. 1 [or] 2 defensive team sila rito sa UAAP,” Napa continued. “Ibang klase ‘yong ginagawa nila coach Nash [Racela] do’n.”
“‘Yon nga, learning sa’min ‘to na maging ready pa talaga kami, kasi hindi lang ‘to pwedeng mangyari samin, marami pa,” he added.
Interestingly, NU also struggled hard against Adamson in the first round, only winning by two, 56-54, after it clawed back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth.
Figueroa and Parks formed a lethal 1-2 combo in the payoff period to complete the Bulldogs’ run with the latter drilling the game-winning basket off an and-one play to seal the match.
“Just like coach said, we have a lot of work to do. We stepped up when we needed to, but it was still not enough… Our goal is to reach the finals, that's what we're trying to reach for” Parks said. "Coach said it's the championship team that we need to be."
NU looks to extend its streak when it takes on Far Eastern University (4-6) this Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.