ZAVIER Lucero doesn't mind the recent dip in his game as long as University of the Philippines gets the win.
It's the mentality that the Fil-Am high-flyer maintained even after his recent stretch of subpar games.
"As much as I wanna play well, it's never gonna be just about me or how I play," he said.
Lucero had a fine run in the first round, enough to garner MVP chatter thanks to his exceptional game for the Fighting Maroons.
But in his past three games, the 6-foot-7 forward has taken the backseat, averaging only 7.6 points and 7.0 rebounds.
It's a far cry from his 15.4 points, 8.3 boards, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks in the first eight games of the season.
Not helping was that UP's shock loss against Adamson came in that stretch where Lucero's scoring took a bit of a dive.
But on Tuesday, Lucero got his rhythm back and poured 20 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in the Diliman side's 81-68 rout of cellar-dwelling University of the East to formally secure a top two seat in the UAAP Season 84.
Zavier Lucero and the Maroons are firmly in second spot.
For the 23-year-old, bad stretches like these are part of the game.
What matters more to him is that UP still finds a way to hack out a win.
"We've been winning for the most part and we dropped one game. So me not performing to the level that I did in the first round, it's part of basketball. I can't look too much deeper that that," he said.
And with two games left in UP's schedule, Lucero's attention pivots on how the Fighting Maroons can build on these last two games against University of Santo Tomas and Ateneo heading into the Final Four with his team already locked at the No. 2 spot.
"I'm just worried about how we continue to build towards the playoffs," he said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph