Zamar eyes ‘summa cum laude’ UAAP finish for Filoil champs

MANILA, Philippines – UE head coach Boycie Zamar couldn’t hide his excitement after the Warriors annexed the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup championship Wednesday, but said the feat is not enough.

This UAAP season, Zamar and the Warriors are gunning for the tournament's equivalent of the highest academic Latin honor.

“If we compare this to graduation, itong panalo na ito ay cum laude pa lang. Sa, UAAP ang target namin maging summa cum laude,” said Zamar, whose wards rallied to upset the NU Bulldogs, 81-68, to end a five-year title drought in the Filoil finals at The Arena in San Juan.

“We will enjoy this win but tomorrow we will be back to practice and work hard. Back to reality, the UAAP,” he added.

Zamar though did not want to downgrade the accomplishment of his team, stating that their Filoil campaign is a huge success after ending NU’s 21-game win streak dating back to last year’s tourney.

“Malaking bagay ito para sa team. It showed that we have a lot of character and heart. Hindi namin matutunang lumaban nang ganito sa mga practice or tune-up,” the UE mentor said.

Zamar noted how they had trouble setting up tune-up games because of their low standing, finishing seventh in last year’s UAAP season.

“Coming from a seventh place finish, nobody wanted to have a tune-up game with us. Maybe they thought wala silang makukuha sa amin. We had to join pocket tournaments at kahit mga ‘ligang labas’ sumali na din kami,” he explained.

Zamar said the Warriors’ improvement was apparent in their maturation as a team, in time for their quest to reach contender status in the upcoming UAAP season.

“Dati kapag natatalo sila patawa tawa lang mga batang yan. Ngayon kapag natatalo minsan umiiyak na sila sa galit. Malaking bagay talaga itong experience namin sa Filoil,” he said.