University of the Philippines (UP) gained a golden chance to finally win the crown when it advanced to the Final Four of Season 82 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.
UP head coach Bo Perasol said their impressive run this season is a product of their three-year program in which they recruited the best players available, including stars Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero.
The Fighting Maroons finished the double-round eliminations with a 9-5 win-loss card and gained the twice-to-beat advantage in the stepladder.
They will face the survivor in the sudden-death match between University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University. Should they emerge victorious, they will book a ticket to the best-of-three finals series against the mighty and unbeaten Ateneo de Manila University.
“This is the product of the program that we built three years ago and we’re now reaping the fruits of it,” said Perasol, who had his share of struggles after being slapped with a two-game suspension early in the season.
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The entry of Paras and Rivero made UP stacked in talent, but made life more challenging for Perasol.
“My job here is not just to coach the team, but to manage them,” added Perasol.
“As you know, there can’t be too many heroes in basketball. The challenge here is how to manage these heroes and made them play as one; Kobe is there, Ricci is there, Bright (Akhuetie) is there, Juan (Gomez de Liaño) is there. So it’s really a struggle for us yet we were able to reach this far so I can understand the emotions.”
For Fighting Maroons’ staunch supporters in JJ Atencio and Edrin Panganiban of STATS, seeing the Fighting Maroons secure the No. 2 spot at the end of the elimination round sums up their successful partnership.
“I think the plan of putting up a solid team and equipping them in preparation for the UAAP season summed it up. The training we had outside of the country certainly made them ready for the big battles ahead in the UAAP,” said Atencio, the chairman of STATS and Januarius Holdings.
