AS always, it’s not about how you start, but how you finish.
And the University of the Philippines is doing exactly that, shrugging off its early struggles to emerge as the hottest team in the ongoing UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
Peaking at the right time are the Fighting Maroons who have won eight of their last nine games to occupy solo second at 8-3.
And the more worrying part for the opposition? The defending champions are getting stronger just as we go deeper into this tilt.
“It's good that all of the pieces are coming together, especially at this point of the season. Hopefully, we continue to build on it,” said assistant coach Christian Luanzon.
Take State U's 70-61 win over University of the East last Saturday where the Iskos got a chance to give more significant minutes to the “other guys.”
Usual starters like Harold Alarcon, Rey Remogat, and Gani Stevens were happy to take a backseat to their peers, cheering on lesser-used players like Sean Alter and Josh Coronel who clocked in significant minutes.
On the surface, it might not mean much, but it might just be the springboard of confidence these players need in case their numbers get called anew in the more crucial junctures of the tourney.
“Laging sinasabi ni coach Gold [Monteverde], you never know when an opportunity will open. And when he talks about this, he talking about this generally, even in life,” said Luanzon.
“What’s important is you have to be ready for it. And yung third group namin were ready for it. That’s important for us,” he continued, as the Fighting Maroons drew 35 bench points in the contest.
What that game did was to reinforce what many already knew: that this State U squad is still stacked and should be the standard for this league.
“We never know, there may be an injured player, someone’s sick, or someone’s in foul trouble. But games like these will remind us that these players have what it takes to perform at this level,” said Luanzon.
“The more na lumalalim kami, the stronger we become.”
