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    One coach pulled all the strings in this UST-UP game. It sure wasn't Bo

    UST coach Aldin Ayo leaves indelible imprint in epic UAAP game
    Nov 14, 2019
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero of the UP Fighting Maroons aren't just star players.

    They also have delightful movie star names that you want to repeatedly roll off your tongue even for no reason.

    I'm a fan of both, especially Kobe, whom I once interviewed here in the US and discovered that this polarizing figure is really just a nice kid.

    Misunderstood, unfairly judged.

    Having spent most of my high school at the UP campus in Cebu in the early 80s, allegiance and nostalgia had drawn me to root for the Maroons in their stepladder semifinals duel against those menacing Growling Tigers from UST.

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      And with two bites at the apple, two swings for a UAAP Season 82 Finals berth, there was no reason to feel anything other than good and confident.

      This was supposed to be their time, two stars held in orbit by the big moments that require their greatness.

      This was their chance to shine. To validate all the attention and expectations. To silence the haters. To crush the doubters.

      Sadly, Kobe and Ricci squinted against the spotlight and underperformed.

      And then my heart sank.

      The skies are gray in the Maroon country that is Diliman.

      Ren, Rhen go away come back again another day.

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      As it turned out, it was a pair of relatively unheralded and moderately publicized players from UST who outshined the eternally more glamorous UP duo.

      Renzo Subido and Rhenz Abando.

      In beating the Maroons twice, Subido and Abando combined for 50 points while Rivero and Paras only had 41 between them.

      I watched the final 32 seconds of UP's demise on YouTube before penning this column and I saw Subido's spine-tingling dagger 3 that gave UST a shaky 66-65 lead with 23.6 ticks to go.

      That shot was so dirty I felt like I needed a shower after witnessing it. Subido might not have the high hops and the high profile, but that young man has the killer genes.

      Cold-blooded, nasty.

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      UNDAUNTED. SUPERB. TOUGH. That might as well stand for UST as it demonstrated the elements needed to be a championship contender to legitimately challenge the Blue Eagles' empire.

      UP was the higher seed at No.2 but four was UST's lucky charm.

      The Tigers wiped out a four-point deficit in the final 1:53 of play. They beat UP twice in four days and swept the Maroons 4-0 this season.

      I don't know where UST head coach Aldin Ayo lives but it looks like he parks his car inside the head of his UP counterpart, the equally-brilliant Bo Perasol.

      How else can you explain a sweep when two evenly matched squads collide other than to surmise that perhaps the slightly better coach prevailed?

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      My peers in the media, who cover the UAAP like a blanket, described UST's finals trip as a "shock" and "unlikely."

      I beg to disagree.

      The Tigers were 3-for 3 against U.P. entering today's game and they won by 20 the last time they met.

      The only shock here, really, is that UP folded like a Swiss knife in the final 63 seconds.

      Go Tigers, go. Give those dynastic Jesuit boys at Ateneo a run for their three-peat.

      And go, go Aldin Ayo. Feel free to park your car inside Tab Baldwin's mind.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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