The UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament Finals between the La Salle Green Archers and UP Fighting Maroons got a fitting, glorious ending on Sunday, with UP reclaiming the crown in a nail-biter of a finish in front of a jampacked crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Now, as the dust settles on this hard-fought championship series, let’s take a look at five things we have learned from this gigantic battle between two storied universities:
1. UP has so much top-to-bottom talent.
This might be stating the obvious, but UP is one talented bunch. From Finals MVP JD Cagulangan to Quentin Millora-Brown, Harold Alarcon to Gerry Abadiano, and Francis Lopez to Reyland Torres, the Fighting Maroons just had too many weapons. It showed as UP looked cool, calm, and composed running things through their main guys, whether down in the block to QMB, in transition to Lopez, in pick-and-rolls with Cagulangan, or in isolations with Alarcon. In contrast, Green Archers not named Kevin Quiambao just couldn’t make plays consistently enough—especially in the fourth quarters.
2. Singular brilliance can only go as far.
Back-to-back MVP Kevin Quiambao is as good as they come. That he carried a flawed La Salle team with no clear second star—apologies to the energetic Mike Phillips—to the Finals again is a testament to his singular brilliance. But even the best players can find it difficult to crack a more potent, more talented adversary. That’s exactly the case in these Finals. Quiambao just couldn’t overcome QMB and the company.
3. Players win games, players lose them.
This might be an oversimplification, but the championship likely came down to one three-minute or so stretch: from the 5:13 mark of the fourth quarter to the 1:48 mark. During that stretch, La Salle played without Quiambao, as Topex Robinson inexplicably pulled his main man for a breather. The game—and the championship—was very much still in the balance, and the Green Archers played without the best player in college hoops for over three minutes.
4. Quentin Millora-Brown is legit.
Millora-Brown has previously floated around as a potential Gilas Pilipinas call-up given his size at 6-foot-10. After norming per-game averages of 14 points and 9 rebounds in the Finals and hitting the series’ two biggest freebies, it might be time to make that happen—assuming he is eligible to play as a local. QMB is mobile, athletic, and plays big. He has proven to be reliable as well and is seemingly not afraid of the big moment.
5. Francis Lopez might make it after all.
No player in college ball—that includes even La Salle’s KQ—has Lopez’s physical tools. He is built like a tank and is freakishly athletic. But after faltering at the end of Game 2, it looked as if he didn’t have the mental makeup and fortitude. Then, Lopez submitted a 12-point, 11-rebound, 6-assist masterpiece highlighted by a backbreaking triple that extended UP’s lead to 64-60 with just 1:38 remaining. Lopez has a ways to go, but his response to adversity is encouraging.
