SEEKING IMPROVEMENTS
University of the Philippines got the rude awakening its coach feels it needed over the weekend, when the Fighting Maroons were mangled black-and-blue by possibly one of the biggest threats in Season 88 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.
Adamson, meanwhile, got the validation that it can play with the powerhouses, and the Soaring Falcons and their coach don’t want that to settle for merely being competitive.
Such is the tale of the defending champs and an underdog as they cross paths on Wednesday at the resumption of the eliminations, with both dead set on avoiding a second straight loss.
“Definitely, this is not the way we wanted to start the season,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde after bowing to the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, 87-67. “Sometimes, these tough losses push us to work together and work harder.
“We all need to realize that no matter how hard it is, playing together is the most important thing.”
The Maroons entered the tournament without three prominent figures of their title run. Gone are JD Cagulangan, Francis Lopez and one-and-done big man Quentin Millora-Brown, who would have been the perfect fit to man the front line for UP.
And the Tigers certainly made them look easy pickings last Saturday with Collins Akowe running roughshod over the UP front line the entire game.
Crucial Falcon
Adamson has someone close to that caliber of a player in Cedrick Manzano, who starred in a 60-58 loss to La Salle the last time. And instead of being proud of how they stood their ground against one of the most formidable programs in the league, Adamson coach Nash Racela wants his charges to take it a notch higher.
“In the preseason, we lost twice to La Salle by big margins,” Racela told reporters. “So now I think we had more of a realization that we don’t settle with just competing. We still want to get wins. We’ll make some adjustments moving forward.”
Game time is at 4:30 p.m. at UST’s Quadricentennial Pavilion, with the game coming after Ateneo, on a redemption tour after missing the Final Four last year, looking for the early lead in its 2:30 p.m. clash with University of the East.
Akowe made heads turn in his collegiate debut, toying with UP with a monster 29-point, 17-rebound effort.
Manzano is also an inside operator that Racela would like to maximize. And if so, expose more kinks in the Maroons’ armor.
In the loss to the Archers and in his showdown against Mike Phillips, Manzano still went on to finish with 19 points and nine rebounds.
