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.
SIX games remain in the first round, and the only thing certain is that there won’t be any winless teams this year.
But so far, the field has slowly evened out with the contenders slowly separating themselves from the pretenders.
Week 4 allowed us to see that, and we expect more clarity as round one comes to a close in seven days’ time.
With that, let’s see who were this week’s top performers.
Guard: Jorick Bautista (FEU)
9 points (2/10 3PT), 2 steals vs La Salle; 18 points (1/4 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal vs Ateneo
Growing pains were expected from a young Far Eastern University side this season, yet lost in the shuffle of their close shaves was the consistent performance of Bautista.
The former Gilas Pilipinas Youth member actually has been a shining light for the Tamaraws, ranking fourth in scoring this year with his 12.5 points.
And when the time was right, Bautista struck the hardest as he delivered the goods in scoring all but four of his 18 points in the fourth and overtime periods to earn FEU its first win of the season on Sunday.
Guard: Terrence Fortea (UP)
13 points (3/3 3PT), 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist vs Adamson
Remember this guy?
As loaded as University of the Philippines is, it continues to find more weapons in its arsenal as on Saturday, Fortea found his groove and had his best game of the season, going perfect from the field to help State U recover from its lethargic start against Adamson.
How great is it to be a Fighting Maroons fan that even when the usual suspects fail to find their mark, they still have Fortea they can pull out from their thick deck of cards.
Forward: Michael Phillips (La Salle)
13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks vs FEU; 12 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block vs UST
Understandably, Kevin Quiambao has dominated the headlines this year for La Salle.
But don’t you forget “Motor Mike.”
Phillips has been a consistent force in the paint for the Green Archers, an automatic double-double machine who has been steadfast in fulfilling his role for coach Topex Robinson.
No flash, all effort is the modus operandi for the fourth-year forward and rightfully so, it’s just right that he earns the distinction of being the Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week in this juncture.
Forward: John Abate (UE)
15 points (1/3 3PT), 6 rebounds vs NU
Just like last week, it could have been anyone from University of the East.
But Abate gets the slight leg up over his peer Wello Lingolingo for the second forward spot this week by virtue of him keeping the ship afloat against National U.
The Red Warriors’ energizer bunny has really come to his own so far in this campaign, brandishing more of his offensive game to compliment his efforts on defense – all welcome signs as UE enjoys this three-game win streak.
Center: Mo Konateh (FEU)
12 points, 25 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals vs La Salle; 10 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block vs Ateneo
There’s a reason why coach Sean Chambers continues to rave about the potential of Konateh.
And so far, the Gambian big man has lived up to the hype, churning out monster numbers as he remains the league leader in rebounds and blocks.
All eyes may be on Bautista or even the young locals for FEU, but Konateh’s presence in the middle has also been a big reason why the Morayta side remains competitive even if they only have a 1-5 record to show.
6th Man: Quentin Millora-Brown (UP)
11 points, 14 rebounds vs Adamson
Everyone knew even before the season that QMB will be a problem for the rest of the league.
With the combination of his size and length, he has indeed been a big headache to the opposing frontlines who have done (and failed time and again) to neutralize his presence.
Millora-Brown did that anew against Adamson, asserting his might down low as UP slowly but surely crawled its way back from a 31-9 hole to end up with a 12-point win.
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