Final Four starts

In a key battle between big men, Papi Sarr and the second-seeded Falcons will try to get past a huge hurdle in Bright Akhuetie and the third-ranked Maroons. —Sherwin Vardeleon

Adamson has a twice-to-beat edge, a player who seems to love burying daggers in the heart of University of the Philippines and the mental edge of having swept the Maroons in UAAP Season 81.

But it’s not like the Falcons own every edge in their Final Four showdown with the Maroons.

Bo Perasol, UP coach, feels his team has some sort of an advantage after finally making the Final Four for the first time in two decades.

“Actually, the pressure’s already off,” he told the Inquirer last week at the new Epsilon Chi Center. “The pressure was for us to be in the Final Four.”

“The pressure lies within the task of making the most of what we have,” Perasol said. “What’s important is that we’re given that chance.”

Adamson lies in UP’s path. The Falcons own a 2-0 sweep of UP in the elimination round. And the Falcons know what UP is feeling right now.

“Just like when I took over, during my first year, coming from a cellar dweller, we went all the way to Final Four,” said coach Franz Pumaren. “That’s the same scenario (for UP) right now. Hopefully our crowd will be there also, to at least give us additional lift.”

And while forward Sean Manganti has dealt UP heartaches this season, nobody believes this series will be decided by one player.

“[Manganti has] been playing well against us,” Perasol said. “It’s something we need to address.”

“To say he’s the one who beat us altogether? I don’t think so,” Perasol said. “Adamson has a very good team; I think everybody contributes … [and] everybody defends. We need to defend Sean as well, but what’s important is we need to do it as a team.”

“I’m sure their focus is on me, Jerrick (Ahanmisi) and Papi (Sarr),” said Manganti. “But you know, you can’t put a price on the guys like Simon (Camacho), Jonathan Espeleta, Jerom Lastimosa. Those guys do things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”

“Every team needs those type of players and I’m just glad we have those players who could step up, you know,” he added. “They don’t care about playing times and nobody in the team cares about stats. Nobody’s a padder. Everyone just wants to win. We all want the same thing, we all have the same goal.”

The two teams collide on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Mall of Asia Arena. The day after, farther up north at Araneta Coliseum, top seed Ateneo takes on No. 4 Far Eastern U.

Both Ateneo and Adamson need only one win to advance to the Finals. UP and FEU need two straight victories to do so.

Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, who doesn’t fancy labels, wants his Blue Eagles to forget a tag they rightfully earned last season: defending champions.

“We don’t consider ourselves as defending champions,” he said. “That’s another team. That’s another time.”

“And I think our potential is significant now,” he added. “The 2018 team has to stand on its own merits.”

On Sunday, this current Ateneo squad can begin earning its own merit against FEU, the team that pushed the Blue Eagles to the limit in last year’s Final Four and upset Baldwin’s boys in the first round.