Seeing the finish line, UP wants to cross with a championship

MANILA, Philippines: The UP Fighting Maroons simply want to cross the finish line with a championship this time in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament.

UP ended its 36-year title drought after defeating the Ateneo Blue Eagles in Season 84 in May 2022. The Maroons’ reign, however, was short-lived as the Blue Eagles got back at them in Season 85 in December of the same year.

Now, UP put itself in the position to regain that lost glory as it faces De La Salle in the first-ever Finals match up between the two schools this Season 86.

“Every team has its own journey this season and like I said earlier, ours started on January 16 this year. And I’m sure the other teams could say that as well. With us, half of our teams are rookies, some came in half of the year, managing injuries and all that,” said UP deputy coach Christian Luanzon.

“Our journeys at this point is that we’re already seeing the finish line. It’s just a matter of us putting the pedal to the metal in the race. For us it’s all about taking advantage of what we built all throughout the year and finishing it up hopefully the way we wanted to, the way we envision it.”

Finishing as top seed for the first time in UAAP men’s basketball eliminations, the Fighting Maroons marched to their third straight Finals appearance after dethroning the Blue Eagles, 57-46, in the Final Four where they had a win-once advantage last Saturday.

As they face the Green Archers led by MVP frontrunner Kevin Quimbao, the Fighting Maroons looks to play well on both ends of the floor. They did well defensively against the Blue Eagles but struggled on the offensive end with just 30 percent shooting from the field.

“Defensively I thought, from a consistent standpoint, we were there. But offensively, clearly, we’re not there yet. We shot the ball 30 percent. It was a defensive game, that’s one thing. At the end of the game, you gotta put the ball in the hoop. Whoever we face in the finals, those are obviously two talented offensive teams as well,” said Luanzon.

“But, it’s something that… Coach Gold [Monteverde] always says that it’s always a process, it’s never about the result, and for us it’s part of the process. After tonight, we’re gonna watch film. And then we’re gonna try to look and clean up some things we can improve on, offensively, of how we can make efficiently more baskets and to continue on in the defensive end.”

The Fighting Maroons and the Green Archers begin their best-of-three Finals series at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, November 29. In the women’s division, the 8-peat seeking NU Lady Bulldogs and the UST Growling Tigresses likewise start their best-of-three championship duel on the same day and at the same venue.

NU and UST battle at 12 p.m. while UP and La Salle collide at 6 p.m.