Whatever happens, culture of mediocrity over for UP Maroons

MANILA, Philippines — University of the Philippines head coach Bo Perasol went into the UAAP press room with most of his wards in tow.

Despite a resounding 106-81 victory over National University on Saturday at the Big Dome, the Fighting Maroons treated the post-game chat like it was their last.

Perasol feted his graduating cagers, to kick off things. He went on to laud Paul Desiderio for another gritty stand. He recalled how many times they’ve found their backs against a wall and came back.  Finally, he addressed the elephant in the room: that their season still hung in the balance.

“What’s important right now is we gave ourselves a chance for the playoffs, and whatever happens, I’m really proud of how they played this game,” the tactician said.

“Ang sabi ko sa kanila this is going to be a defining moment for our program, for them, how they are going to respond to an almost, almost do-or-die game. They responded really well,” Perasol added.

But really, UP had scripted one of the massive turnarounds for a team this season. Finally, they were able to shed the “whipping boys” tag in the UAAP. Finally, they proved they were deserving of the first word in their team moniker. Finally, they were winning games.

And boy was it on full display in that game against the Bulldogs — a team that despite having a new coach and system in place, still gave a handful teams a run for their money.

Desiderio tied his career-best of 30 points, Juan Gomez de Liano lived up to his hype with 22 and a dunk. His older brother Javi showed he could be consistent. Jun Manzo proved that he is more than a provider of a clutch basket, while import Ibrahim Outtara displayed a flash of brilliance they could build on in the future. Heck, even Andrew Harris made a basket that just put a smile on everyone in the Big Dome in a maroon shirt.

“I think their mindset was they’re not willing yet to go on vacation but we will be waiting on what’s going to happen in the second game. But again, as I said, I’m really proud of how they responded to the challenge,” Perasol said.

“I think if I would have to describe this into a phrase, it’s going to be a ‘rollercoaster ride.’ We had some bad losses, good wins, close losses, nag-aaway kami, pinagalitan ko sila, sumasama ‘yung loob nila. It’s just like a drama for the whole season for us,” he shared.

“But when we began our off-season, we really had our hopes high on getting a chance into the Final Four,” the second-year UP coach added. “And here we are.”

Before the season began, UP made it clear that they want to get over the mentality of just winning for the sake of collecting victories. They wanted to move up in the food chain.

They took care of games slowly but surely. First, UST as their opening day prey. Then, a stunning upset of the defending champion De La Salle University. There were also the close brushes with Ateneo de Manila and Adamson University. After 14 games, they were already far from the former shell of themselves seasons ago. But are still bracing to tick off that goal they’ve set upon themselves for this season.

“Honestly, ‘yung mindset naming lahat as a team ay hindi pa kami ready na umuwi,” chimed in Rob Ricaforte, who initially was ruled out ineligible to play his lone and final playing year. “So we want to make sure that we came out and played our best. Doesn’t matter how many minutes we played.”

“We want to continue, keep playing. We wanted to take any chance that was given to us,” added Harris.

“What I had in mind was I was supposed to cry but I’m not crying. Because it’s a good thing, masaya. Masaya 'yung vibe. We gave it our best. We left everything inside the court. Whatever happens, we know deep inside we don’t have any regrets,” said Paolo Romero, who like Harris, served the Fighting Maroons for seven years and will be graduating this year.

Two hours after the interview, Far Eastern University decided they would no longer prolong their wait. The Tamaraws charged past and trampled Adamson University, 71-54, formalizing their inclusion into the semifinal cast and ending the Fighting Maroons’ season.

A roller-coaster ride, indeed.

“I think that this is going to be a game that we could reckon with in the years to come,” Perasol noted.

And they proved just that – along with many other things.