UNIVERSITY of the Philippines can’t get no satisfaction just yet even with back-to-back victories to end prelims play in UAAP Season 87.
It will be the school’s sixth straight men’s basketball Final Four appearance, giving State U the chance to make amends for back-to-back championship heartbreaks.
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With lessons learned from the last two finals where it fell ever-so short of winning, a strong 11-3 card for the No. 2 seed to end the elimination round won’t be a cause for celebration by any means.
No time for hiccups
UP had five games to spare when it clinched its semifinals spot.
In those ‘non-bearing’ contests, the maroon-and-green lost twice in a row to also-ran National University and defending champion La Salle before winning its last two against Far Eastern University and University of the East.
“A coach is never satisfied, especially si Coach Gold [Monteverde]. It’s just part of his greatness, so to speak, as a coach,” said UP deputy coach Christian Luanzon.
“What Coach Gold really wanted after those two losses [to NU and La Salle], more than the Xs and Os, is really to compete. If there was a message sent during the practices, ‘yun ‘yung top of the list.”
With a far-from-perfect finish entering the Final Four, the Fighting Maroons aim to be as airtight as possible in upholding the competitive flair that made them bona fide title contenders over the last few years.
“Any time you get two straight losses, magandang kapalit ‘yung dalawang sunod na panalo. Obviously, there were no implications in terms of bearing, 'yung seeding for us, but just like what Coach Gold would always say, every practice, every game is like a championship game for us.
As Luanzon frankly puts it, “It’s all about habits. We wanted to get back into that habit of winning.”
Two big steps and more
Even with the setbacks this season, UP has hurdled two key phases in its title-reclamation bid.
And simple maths would tell them that such steps are just about half the job done with the Final Four against University of Sto. Tomas and, possibly, the Finals left to surpass.
“Even though we have the twice-to-beat advantage, it’s a do-or-die game for us. It’s important for us in eight days [or in about] a week that our daily mindset is always right because nandito na kami,” Luanzon said.
“We’ve got one foot in the door. The goal was to make it to the Final Four and obviously, the next step is to get into the championship. Those are big steps already."
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