Maroons looking to replicate FilOil preseason success in UAAP Season 87 bid

MANILA, Philippines – After winning their second straight title in the FilOil EcoOil ECJ Preseason Cup, the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons will bring what they learned into the next UAAP season. 

In a rematch of last season’s FilOil championship, UP came back from 20 points down and held on against the reigning UAAP champions La Salle Green Archers, 69-66, Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City. 

After the game, UP gunner Gerry Abadiano said the team was able to obtain a lot of learnings in the tournament. 

“For us, we had a lot of learnings in the FilOil preseason. The whole game, the whole elimination and finals, we will be bringing [what we learned] to the upcoming UAAP season,” the sharpshooter, who scored 12 points in the title-clinching game, told reporters in Filipino. 

“For me, for our team, may we not stop and just continue to improve,” he added. 

The Diliman-based squad fell against the Green Archers in the UAAP Season 86 finals. 

And with key additions and subtractions in both teams’ rosters, they are using competitions to prepare for Season 87, where they are still the favorites to compete for the title. 

“We will have training abroad, and it will also be a big help for us especially for our rookies and the rest of my teammates,” Abadiano, who was later named Finals Most Valuable Player, added. 

The guard also acknowledged that the Fighting Maroons should work on their consistency ahead of next season, which will start in September. 

“We know that our team, we have not reached our potential yet. That is what we really need to improve on, our consistency, because there are times that we are not consistent, we get down big,” he said. 

“What if we don’t recover? That is the biggest thing we have to improve on next season.” 

UP forward Francis Lopez seconded his teammate.

“Like he said, we’re in a roller-coaster, we gotta be consistent in what we do,” he said. 

“If the shots are not falling, we just continue, especially on defense.” 

The Fighting Maroons rolled past the competition in the FilOil tourney, winning all their contests.