NIC Cabañero has been a scintillating bright spot in another gloomy campaign for UST in the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball tournament.
As the Tigers' Final Four hunt comes to an early end for the third season running, UST assistant coach Japs Cuan gave the senior leader his flowers for pouring his heart out in what has been an exhausting run.
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"Wala naman na kami masabi kay Nic (Cabañero) kasi he's really trying his best last game kahit nag-off the bench siya, and this game nag-start siya again. We're really trying to think outside the box, but still hindi talaga nag-mamaterialize," Cuan said.
Cuan did not hide the fact that Cabañero, who leads the league in points per game (20.6 ppg) and minutes played (34:30) after Round 1 , has been physically struggling in the season's home stretch.
"Whatever yung ginagawa ni Nic, I hope lang na 'yung last three games, ma-sustain pa niya kasi nakikita ko na rin na parang ang bigat na ng legs ni Nic eh," said Cuan.
"Pagod na pagod na rin siya because I think yung average minutes niya sa'min, parang more than 30 minutes (per game) so buhat talaga siya. So, credit din to Nic for not giving up," he added.
UST looks to eclipse its one-win finish in Season 85 in its last three games of the elimination round versus league leaders NU, UP, and FEU.
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