BAR SET WAY UP
- Two decisive wins in, Maroons still feel they need to be better to achieve Season 87 championship goal
For a team who just notched two consecutive wins—both handily, even—in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, University of the Philippines (UP) didn’t look too happy.
The team knows something is still missing in their game.
“We need consistency in what we are doing and for the first three quarters, we were doing that,” veteran guard JD Cagulangan said after the Maroons’ latest victory—an 81-71 triumph late Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
UP opened its season with a 77-61 rout of Ateneo and both Cagulangan, who finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists in almost 28 minutes of play against the Warriors, and Harold Alarcon felt they could have even more dominant against both squads.
“This will serve as a nudge for us that we simply can’t relax so we will go back to building good habits,” Alarcon, who finished with nine points on an 80 percent clip, three rebounds and two assists, said.
Against UE, the worries of Cagulangan and Alarcon had some merit.
UP had a 27 point lead by third quarter against the Warriors only for UE to surprise the Maroons by limiting them to only 12 points in the payoff frame while punching in 42 points in the second half.
“[In] the fourth quarter we suddenly played worse. We need to be consistent with what we are doing and the focus should always be there,” Cagulangan added.
It’s clear the Maroons have set their standards high this season. UP, after all, has been a title contender in the last three seasons, two of which ended in heartbreaks and silver medals for consolation.
The difference between success and defeat could very well be lying in the small details and the Maroons didn’t quite stick to performing those little things consistently against the Warriors.
Or so they felt.
“When it comes to our motivation, we are constantly reminded by the coaches regarding the habits that we are building and that they are instilling in us starting from the preseason,” Cagulangan said, a sentiment that Alarcon echoed.
“The habits and our character as a team [includes] each one checking within ourselves what really is our purpose and our real goal,” Alarcon said.
That will be the short-term goal for UP but as for the long-term one? It remains to be what they achieved three years ago and what in the last two editions were within reach.
After ending a 36-year title drought by defeating Ateneo in the Finals of Season 84, the Maroons crumbled as the Blue Eagles got payback immediately the next season. A year later, the Maroons were stopped in their tracks by reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao and La Salle.
“The championship as motivation is still not lost on us. We lost in [the Finals in] back-to-back seasons and this season we will still try [to win it],” Cagulangan said.
“I get motivation from our two championship … losses in Seasons 85 and 86. I am frustrated and I really don’t like to lose so that’s where I am getting motivation,” Alarcon added. “Basketball only has two results: win or lose, we remind the team that those losses cannot happen again.” INQ
