UP Fighting Maroons. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—University of the Philippines star Carl Tamayo hopes the loss to Ateneo served as a valuable lesson for the Fighting Maroons heading into the Final Four.
UP blew a golden opportunity to lock up the top seeding following its 75-67 defeat to Ateneo on Saturday.
“We should learn after this game. We need to make these adjustments, grow as a team. Sometimes, we really just lose. The important thing is we learn from this and we bring it to the Final Four,” said Tamayo.
Tamayo’s 20-point, 10-rebound double-double wasn’t enough to lead the Maroons to victory after they failed to match the Blue Eagles’ toughness and intensity in the second half.
The sophomore forward is averaging 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season but knows he needs to take his play another notch for UP to have a good chance of repeating.
That’s where the experience and lessons learned from each game come to play.
“Learnings come nonstop this season and even next season. There’s always room for learning. I have already learned a lot but there are lessons that I still need to learn,” he said.
“I learned a lot as a player and as a person, especially in the team, we learned a lot individually and as a team.”