IN terms of the numbers, Francis Lopez has been off to a strong yet steady start in his rookie season with the UP Maroons.
Three games in, Lopez dished out an average statline of 9.3 points, nine boards, 3.7 dimes, and 1.3 steals with a whopping efficiency rate of +26.3.
And in the win over erstwhile unbeaten NU alone, he had a plus-minus of 34 in just 24 minutes of play.
None of these numbers, however, matter one bit for the 20-year-old standout.
READ: UP Maroons stay unbeaten, deal NU Bulldogs first loss
"Me honestly, I don’t mind about those stats. What matters is the team. I wanna give a big credit to the team," Lopez said.
"Hopefully, we can continue to defend our team because most of the teams here are tough so we gotta do our best to maintain that," he added.
On whether he's already adapted and embraced his role with the Maroons, Lopez swiftly deflected all and any conversation about him and focused further on maintaining UP's killer form for the remainder of the season.
"I just wanna say that the job’s not finished. We have a lot to work on and this is just our third game. This is just the start of the season. We’re happy about today’s game (versus NU), we’re moving on to the next game (versus FEU), and I hope we can get that too," Lopez said.
Lopez & Co. will face the also-ran Tamaraws in hopes to extend its perfect start to four straight games on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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