It’s all fun and games for Maroons until they sit outside F4 door
There is a lot more that University of the Philippines (UP) needs to do in the second round to prove that it belongs in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball tournament.
For starters, the Maroons need to actually get there.
“The good thing is that we won three games [in the first round] … everybody is trying to vie for that Final Four [seat] and we’re just one [of the teams] that is fighting for that one spot,” UP coach Paul Ramos said.
“Bad side is that we’re the underdogs again because of the situation where we have only won three games. For us to enter the Final Four, we have to win against five formidable teams so hopefully we can pull it off,” Ramos added.
And they hope to make a big run in the second round, where they will be done with the fun and games. This time, they mean business.
“As you know, we in UP are always happy. We are happy warriors. But coming into the second round, we are done with the level of just being happy,” Achrissa Maw said in Filipino after helping UP cap the first round on a high note by slipping past La Salle, 66-62, on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“We are raring to go to the next stage, that’s the only thing on our mind right now,” Maw, who poured in 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Maroons snapped a two-game skid, said.
The Maroons are sitting just outside of the doors to the Final Four sporting a 3-4 (win-loss) card going into the second half of the season with first four seats being occupied by the most formidable teams such as undefeated National University and defending champion University of Santo Tomas—last year’s finalists.
UP also absorbed defeats to Adamson and Ateneo, not a good look for the Maroons if they want to go all the way up. But one of things going their way is the continuous production of their go-to guys.
Aside from Maw, Louna Ozar was also productive with 13 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Kye Pesquera and Christie Bariquit contributed 11 points each to escape the gritty Lady Archers.
The Maroons are hoping to build on thier strong performance to build momentum moving forward.
“The players were more clear with what they wanted to do in every possession because it was evident during our last two games that we were lost in what to do during our offense,” Ramos said. “At least now, we made it more simple and hopefully, the new schemes that we’re planning, that we ran today carry over to the second round and we execute better.”
The Lady Falcons notched their fifth win in seven games to end the first round, their best start in 12 years. That put Adamson solidly in third place, leaving No. 4 Ateneo as the team UP can focus on in the race to the playoffs. INQ
