UP center Quentin Millora-Brown against Ateneo in UAAP Season 87.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — University of the Philippines center Quentin Millora-Brown is delighted to see the team’s continuous growth in UAAP Season 87.
Millora-Brown believes the Final Four-bound Fighitng Maroons have learned to fully embrace playing unselfish basketball which was on full display in a 75-47 whipping of rival Ateneo in the second round of the Battle of Katipunan on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“Everyone feels a lot more connected. At the beginning of the season, I think that just the ball maybe didn’t move quite quickly as it was today so I think the rhythm that we found as a team throughout the first round and the beginning of the second round,” said Millora-Brown, who tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds.
READ: UAAP: UP dominates Ateneo, hands Tab Baldwin his worst loss
“The joy that each of us have when we do well, I think that’s really just where we are at as a team. We don’t care who gets the ball, we just want to win,” he added.
The 6-foot-10 Millora-Brown added they are starting to address their slow starts from their previous games, dealing Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin’s worst loss in the UAAP.
“The team knew that we had a couple of slow starts and we wanted to make sure that when we came out today, we weren’t slow, we weren’t flat, we wanted to make sure we set the tone early and just trying our best to execute every chance we had,” Millora-Brown said. “I think for us, we know what we need to do to win and finding ways to execute whether the ball is going through the hoop for us or not at the beginning. We know we’ll find a flow at some point throughout the game.”
READ: UAAP: Slow stars and all, UP Maroons still leave foes gasping
With a 9-1 record, Millora-Brown seeks to keep improving as the Maroons try to reclaim the crown after back-to-back runner-up finishes.
“I think we can still keep improving. I think that this team has so much potential, we all just trying to keep better every day and in the next few games, as we get towards the end of round two, I hope that we just keep continuing to make these steps,” he said.
UP looks to boost its chances for one of the two twice-to-beat bonuses when it faces National University on Sunday at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.