Culture faces test as UP rides Adamson rout into Ateneo duel

Jacob Bayla–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Moments after University of the Philippines (UP) clinched a Final Four spot in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, assistant coach Christian Luanzon spoke about the need to improve so the Maroons can keep chasing the big picture.

“For coach Gold, this is something he’s been doing since he started coaching. For him, it’s more than just the results. It’s all about the improvement of the team and even after this win, [the need to] still to improve,” Luanzon said on Sunday, referring to UP coach Goldwin Monteverde.

It’s been UP’s thing this season.

The Maroons search for improvement after every game, even if each game resulted in a win eight out of nine times.

That eighth win came against Adamson, 70-59, at Mall of Asia Arena.

Thrice, UP found itself backed to a corner against a stubborn Adamson that refused to be shoved aside by the difference in team standings.

The Maroons simply had an answer each time.

A 10-0 run to climb out of a second-quarter hole to take the lead at the break. Gani Stevens caught a break in the third quarter and helping an 11-6 burst that wiped out a slim deficit and grab the lead heading into the final quarter.

And then in the fourth, the Maroons knocked the wind from under the Falcons’ wings through Mark Belmonte, Quentin Millora-Brown and a defense that gave UP a Final Four berth in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday.

“This was a clinching-a-semifinal game … but at the same time the goal is to make the Finals and we are giving ourselves an opportunity for that,” Luanzon said.

It isn’t just culture that has UP winning, however.

Judging by a majority of key metrics, no other team is playing “culture basketball” better than Ateneo.

At the end of the first round, Ateneo was tops in manufacturing baskets off passes. Ateneo’s 151 field goals made in the first round came off 122 assists, an 81 percent pass-to-points rate (caveat: it’s also an assist if a pass leads to at least one made free throw).

The right way

That many assists and the Eagles committed a shade under just 11 turnovers a game in the first seven games of the season—tops in the league.

Talk about playing the right way.

“We are giving ourselves a chance,” Tab Baldwin, the Ateneo coach, said early into the second round, after picking up a key victory over Santo Tomas.

The problem? Ateneo is shooting just 33.1 percent from the field. That put them last in that department after the first round.

“If the shots ever start falling … we’re going to be a team that’s averaging 75 points,” Baldwin said. “Our record would sure look a lot different if that was the case.”

True: Give the Eagles 75 points every game in the first round and they would be sitting on a 5-2 record.

And it isn’t helping that Ateneo has faced a lot of teams with talent and depth to run them over. The Eagles are surrendering close to 70 points per game, second worst in the league, and allowing opponents to shoot almost 43 percent a game, worst in the league.

And with the Eagles as the Maroons’ next foe, culture will be underdog against talent depth again.

Stevens showcased UP’s depth as he relieved Millora-Brown, who faced early foul worries. The former University of the East standout came through with crucial baskets in the third to hose down a Falcons squad and finished with 10 points without missing a shot from the field.

“I just tried to find that rhythm I had and it’s nice to finally [make baskets],” Stevens said.

Before Sunday, Stevens, who sat out a year for residency purposes, has scored only four points in UP’s last eight games.

Adamson threatened at 58-57 but UP ran away with 12 straight games to sink its foe to a 3-7 (win-loss) mark.

Belmonte had a short stab and a three-point play, then found Millora-Brown twice, once for a slam that put the Maroons irreversibly ahead, 70-58.

In between those baskets, Gerry Abadiano forced a traveling on Joshua Yerro while Mathew Montebon, yielding to UP’s pressure defense, committed the Falcons’ 28th turnover. INQ