Editor’s Note: Every week, SPIN.ph will pick the five best performers per position in the ongoing UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.
OK, this might not be a week’s best thing but rather the best of the final two and a half weeks.
It’s the weird quirk brought about by the unstable UAAP scheduling that saw one-game playdates for the men’s division.
But alas, we finally find ourselves at the end of the eliminations and with the top four teams set, let’s take a look on who performed in their team’s last few games.
Guard: Harold Alarcon (UP)
3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal vs FEU; 33 points (5/8 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 steal vs UE
Coach Goldwin Monteverde wanted University of the Philippines to use its final two games as a workout ahead of the Final Four.
Lucky for him, Alarcon was up to the task and assured that the Fighting Maroons end the eliminations on a two-game win streak.
His career-best 33-point night against UE is just the perfect confidence booster for the Negrense gunner and a reminder of just how deep this backcourt rotation is in Diliman.
Guard: Mathew Montebon (Adamson)
14 points (4/9 3PT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal vs UST; 0 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals vs Ateneo; 13 points (2/7 3PT), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block vs UE in 4th place playoff
You got to back up your words.
Despite the gloomy projections, Montebon proved everyone wrong as he powered Adamson to the Final Four, making true of his preseason promise.
Of course, the shooting will get the biggest spotlight in the 6-foot gunner’s game, but what makes him better is the way he has set the table for the Soaring Falcons, taking a more active approach in playmaking which enabled the San Marcelino side to win four of their last five and barge into the semifinals.
Forward: Amiel Acido (UST)
14 points (4/5 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist vs Adamson
For any rookie, all you need is one breakout game.
Acido, as long of a wait as it took, finally got his.
The former NCAA Juniors MVP caught fire in an amazing blaze of glory for the Growling Tigers which locked up the no. 3 spot thanks to his explosion from rainbow country.
No surprise that it enabled him to snare the final Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week honors as the prelims came to a close.
Forward: Manu Anabo (Adamson)
7 points, 2 rebounds vs UST; 13 points (3/6 3PT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal vs Ateneo; 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal vs UE in 4th place playoff
This could have been anyone for Adamson, yet the nod goes to the unheralded Anabo.
The defensive sparkplug displayed his improved shooting from deep as he stepped up when it mattered the most for the Soaring Falcons.
With Jhon Calisay ejected, he took it upon himself to make up for the absence and torch Ateneo and force the fourth place playoff against UE – one that they audaciously cashed in three days later.
Center: Quentin Millora-Brown (UP)
7 points, 13 rebounds vs FEU; 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks vs UE
What a way to make up for your absence, right?
QMB was immediately back at it for UP after tending to his late grandfather’s burial as he was solid down low in the team’s last two elimination assignments.
More glaring was his 16-point, 12-rebound night against UE, easily his best offensive showing to show just how much of a worth he brings – and why schools were in a rush to sign him even just for a one-and-done year in the UAAP.
6th Man: PJ Palacielo (NU)
16 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block vs La Salle
There hasn’t been a lot of good news in Jhocson, but Palacielo’s play is certainly something to build on for National University.
Getting the exposure with the Bulldogs playing without a foreign student-athlete, the Tanay, Rizal native has been a positive for coach Jeff Napa and he made one last strong impression with his consistent performance that enabled NU to deal La Salle only its second loss of the tourney.
The Bulldogs may not have made the Final Four, but Palacielo is just the tip of the iceberg on the potential that NU will carry into the next season.
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