By NIKOLE JAVIER
Kevin Quiambao was man enough to admit his displeasure over his subpar performance in La Salle’s crushing 97-67 defeat against University of the Philippines at the start of their UAAP Finals series on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Archers were caught by surprise by the kind of defense thrown at them by the Maroons and were not able to adjust fast enough that led to the most lopsided finals loss in the Final Four era.
“For me, personally, nagulat ako sa defensive looks na binigay nila. Hindi ako nakapag-adjust agad. My fault din kasi isa ako sa leader ng team. So, kailangan ko lang mag-adjust and mag-move on,” Quiambao said.
“‘Yung resilience nung team hindi namin nakita throughout the game. Marami kaming kailangan i-work on. Lalo na sa sarili ko dahil isa nga ako sa inaasahan ng team. Kailangan ko lang din i-improve kung ano pa ‘yung pwede i-improve,” he added.
Well, Sunday will be the reckoning as they try to recover from that harrowing experience and try to extend the best-of-three title series to full route.
It’s also his coronation as the league’ MVP, becoming the first local player to win the highest individual award since Ateneo Blue Eagles’ Kiefer Ravena did the trick in back-to-back fashion in 2014 and 2015.
The 22-year-old 6-foot-7 Quiambao was held to only 11 points , a far cry from his average of 16.71 point in the elims that led him to winning the coveted plum.
“Siyempre ‘yung mindset na lagi kong sinasabi one game at a time. Focus muna kami sa Game 2 and then kailangan lang namin gawin kung ano pa ‘yung kailangan namin i-improve and i-cover up ‘yung mga things na pagkakamali namin ngayon,” Quiambao said. “After the game, siyempre ako sobra akong nadismaya lalo na sa pinakita ko. As in minus 22 in the whole game. Sobrang sama. Good thing naman na series tong finals na to, so may Game 2 pa.”
UP’s superb defensive effort put an end to La Salle’s 9-game winning run.
Still, Quiambao refused to let the MVP award be the last trophy he will get before the year ends as La Salle seeks to extend the series.
