UAAP: UP seeks consistency after loss to La Salle

UP Fighting Maroons.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — CJ Cansino said that University of the Philippines’ 88-79 loss to La Salle in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday proved that the Fighting Maroons still lack consistency.

“Sa tingin ko ganoon pa rin yung problem namin, yung inconsistency sa game. Para kaming roller coaster,” said Cansino, who led the way for UP with 20 points on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena. “Alam mo ‘yun, tataas ‘yung energy namin tapos bababa. Andon pa rin yung problem namin na inconsistency.”

(For me, we’re still facing the same problem with our inconsistency. We’re like a rollercoaster. Our energy goes high up but then it dips. That inconsistency has been our problem.)

Cansino scored his team’s last eight points in the game but it wasn’t enough as the Green Archers got the last laugh and bounced back from their first-round round loss to the Fighting Maroons.

UP failed to clinch the first Final Four berth this season and suffered its second loss in 10 games but Cansino insisted that the team’s mindset must stay the same.

CJ Cansino.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

“Yung usual mindset namin kung ano man ‘yung ibigay na pagsubok sa amin, solution-oriented lang kami. Kasi ‘yun ang bini-build namin na culture. So hopefully, next game, mas ibibigay namin ‘yung kailangan para makuha ‘yung panalo,” the UP captain said.

(Our mindset has always been to always try and solve every challenge that we face. That’s the culture we’re trying to build. So hopefully next game we’re able to do what’s needed to get the win.)

“Marami kaming matutunan sa game na ito na dadalhin namin sa season and hopefully matuto kami mga pagkakamali namin,” he added.

(We learned a lot from this game that we can apply this season and hopefully, we learned from our mistakes.)

UP missed reigning Most Valuable Player Malick Diouf due to a right wrist sprain and JD Cagulangan, who continues to recover from a hamstring injury. 

The absence of Diouf and Cagulangan left a big void for the Fighting Maroons but it’s still not an excuse for coach Goldwin Monteverde.

“Of course, Malick and JD will always be key parts of our team but for me, we won’t take this as a reason for whatever happened today,” Monteverde said. “We’re gonna take responsibility because we had chances a while ago. We talked about it before the game that it should not be a reason for us. We just needed to play the right way.”

“I guess as a team we need to learn, especially on the defensive end, to be consistent. There were parts in the game that I believe our defense was giving in against their plays. We played with high intensity in the third and in the fourth but again, we cannot play in spurts,” he added.

Despite the tough loss, Monteverde lauded his young guns Chicco Briones, Seven Gagate, and Luis Pablo for stepping up.

“We always have each other’s backs so of course, our young guys were given some tasks today which I thought they were ready for it,” he said. “I’m sure the biggest takeaway is whatever happens they would learn from it as young players. Whether kung ano man nangyari sa game, ang importante kung ano natutunan nila.”

Last season’s runner-up tries to bounce back and book a semifinal berth against the University of the East on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.