–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Not all farewells are the same. Same thing with gratitude.
Kevin Quiambao and JD Cagulangan bid adieu to their squads after a grueling title battle in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.
The two standouts, who both are so popular they are recognizable by two-letter monikers, also expressed thankfulness for the programs that pushed them into the pantheon of varsity icons.
Only one of them, however, walked off with a crown on his head.
Quiambao, well-rested just 24 hours after a bruising finals series, announced on social media he had played his last game in a La Salle uniform.
“Thank you for 3 wonderful seasons, a lot of sweat, tears and sacrifices,” the two-time MVP wrote in a post shared on Monday. “Coach Topex [Robinson] and Coach Migs Aytona, I Love You and thank you for unlocking and unleashing KQ.”
“Thank you for believing in me and pushing me to reach my potential. I am so grateful and blessed to have you guys. With that being said, My college career comes to an end, I will pursue my NBA dream and start my journey by playing professional ball in Goyang Sono SkyGunners [in the Korean Basketball League] and developing my game even more,” Quiambao said.
Quiambao had been asked after the deciding Game 3, which University of the Philippines won, 66-62, at Smart Araneta Coliseum late Sunday to reclaim the men’s throne, what his future plans were.
He remained noncommittal, shrugging off reports of his transfer to Korea.
“I’ll take a break for now. I think I have until December to rest. I don’t know what’s next, I’ll just rest first,” Quiambao told reporters. “I don’t want to think about it yet. I just want to rest because I’ve been playing basketball nonstop for eight months.”
It took him less than a day to recover enough to make his decision.
Crucial triple
Cagulangan also said goodbye to UP, where he will forever be entrenched in the school’s basketball lore.
“I can’t say anything else but thank you,” Cagulangan, the Finals MVP, said as he wore the Maroon jersey one last time. “I am so happy to have gone to this program. They welcomed me well and UP deserved the win this season.”
Cagulangan leaves the Diliman program with two titles, the first of which he sealed with a dramatic step-back, game-deciding triple against Ateneo in Season 84.
He will exit a champion, and this time, he has Francis Lopez to thank. The highly-athletic forward blundered his free throws that could’ve changed Game 2’s result and sealed the Maroons’ return to the throne earlier. But he redeemed himself in a big way with the crucial go-ahead triple that massively hurt the Archers’ chances of a repeat.
Trend reset
“I’m happy for Francis [Lopez] by the way. I am so proud of how he overcame what happened to him,” Cagulangan said.
“They still trusted me. After that loss, we still were able to talk to one another, and it was just really a surreal moment, man. They keep on believing in me, and I’m just really happy that they’re still there for me, even though we got that loss. We were able to conquer it this time, so yep, I’m really happy,” Lopez said.
While Cagulangan willingly dished out credit to those who deserved it, Quiambao will relocate from Taft Ave. packing a monster share of the blame for La Salle’s defeat in his suitcase.
“Win or lose, blame it on me. All of this is my fault. I take ownership over everything,” said Quiambao, who saved La Salle’s campaign in Game 2 but was limited to 4-of-11 shooting, including 16.7% from behind the three-point line, to finish with 13 points and just four rebounds.
The triumph of Cagulangan and the Maroons meant UP had reversed a trend that has hounded the squad since winning their first crown in 33 years.
UP had always gone ahead in the best-of-three series but would lose Game 2 to eventually yield the crown in Game 3.
Coach Goldwin Monteverde’s charges rewrote the script this time.
“Of course we’re happy for both [the Season 84 and 87 championships],” Monteverde said.
“Especially in Season 84 we were with different players like Ricci [Rivero], CJ [Cansino] and we [enjoyed] having that time and for this championship we have this group and everyone is so happy,” he added before the rest of the Maroons took the celebration to the Big Dome’s press room, pouring water on each other and uncorking champagne.
“It’s amazing to be able to end our season on a [championship]. So few people can say that they ended their season on a win and it’s just something that I’ll always look back at [with a] smile,” Quentin Millora-Brown, who was recruited to be a presence in the paint, said after his only stint with the Maroons. INQ