As early as now, La Salle already looks like a title contender for the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
If you’re a fan of the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, there’s a good chance that the pain from their loss in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Finals still stings.
Understandably so. The Season 86 champions were well on their way to defending their throne after finishing the elimination rounds on the top of the table, and with two wins over their eventual title rivals, the University of the Philippines.
DLSU even had that incredible, somewhat miraculous Game 2 finish that kept them alive in the series. But Game 3 saw a UP side that was determined to win, and the Archers came up short.
This particular group of La Salle players now knows what it feels like to come in second, especially after putting up a valiant fight all season long — the same feeling that pushed UP’s Season 87 redemption bid. And Head Coach Topex Robinson wants to keep this fire alive.
“As painful as this is, we’ll learn from this,” Robinson said after the Game 3 loss. “It’ll be preparations for Season 88 for us. We’re excited about it. As long as we know in our hearts of hearts that we gave our best then there’s nothing to be ashamed of…Moving forward, we’ll learn from it. We’ll keep our fire alive and we’ll try to keep it burning…
“It’s not always going to go the way you want it to be, but I just want to soak that moment because it’s a thing I’ll remember for Season 88.”
Now, it will be the Archers’ turn to trek the long Redemption Road. And they will have to do it without one of, if not their best player.
The King and his guards
To the DLSU community, which loss is more painful: losing Game 3 of the UAAP Season 87 finals or losing Kevin Quiambao?
A tough question. After all, he was instrumental in the Green Archers’ return to the throne in Season 86, as well as their finals run the following year. And, as a back-to-back MVP winner — the first local player to win consecutive MVP awards since Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena in 2014 and 2015, and only the fourth DLSU player to achieve such a distinction — he was undoubtedly the best player in the league, and arguably the best college player in the country.
But just a day after their Game 3 loss, the beloved King Archer announced that he would be hanging up his La Salle jersey to pursue his professional career with the Goyang Sono Skygunners in the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
This is a huge loss for DLSU as Quimabao was one of La Salle’s most versatile and reliable players. A scoring machine, evidenced by his career-high 33 points he achieved in Season 87, he had the ability to stretch the floor, and his playmaking and finishing skills were a huge part of the team’s system. On top of this, at six-foot-seven, his defensive abilities also made him a complete player.
But what makes this loss all the more somber is that he was arguably the player who brought joy back into a program that’s not had a lot of it in recent years. Of course, his teammates, as well as Coach Topex, were a part of building their culture. But most of DLSU’s most memorable moments in the last two years — his back-to-back three-pointers in Game 2 of the Season 87 finals that kept La Salle alive are top of mind — have KQ at the heart of it.
Now entering a new year without their star player, who kept the team’s standards high and whom they would turn to in do-or-die moments, will be a part of their challenge next season.
On top of this, the Green Archers are also losing two point guards: former co-captain Joshua David and one-and-done player Lian Ramiro, players who were key contributors in DLSU’s dominant Season 87 run.
These names will be missed, not least Kevin Quiambao, as soon as the Archers get back into action. However, DLSU has reason to feel confident about their chances of going far in Season 88 — yes, even as early as now.
Back-up has arrived
Despite losing the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Finals series to the UP Fighting Maroons, DLSU may not need to wait too long before getting another crack at the title. Next season, La Salle is gaining a handful of players who are expected to provide more firepower to an already deep team.
Joining the Green and White are transferees Mason Amos, Kean Baclaan, Jacob Cortez, and Luis Pablo, who will all be eligible to play in Season 88.
Mason Amos’ transfer from Ateneo to La Salle was big news early last year and DLSU fans will be raring to see him in green, given that he is one of the highly-rated college players for his size and shooting ability. Similarly, Luis Pablo’s return to La Salle after spending one season with UP is a welcome addition to La Salle’s frontcourt, especially as star center Mike Phillips will be playing his last year of eligibility.
But to make things even more interesting for La Salle are the two point guards they will be earning in Cortez and Baclaan, transferees from San Beda and NU, respectively.
One thing that DLSU was missing last season was a point guard like Evan Nelle, whose playmaking paved a large part of the way for La Salle’s championship campaign in Season 86. In 87, the Archers felt the losses of their former reliable ball handlers, such as Jonnel Policarpio, Mark Nonoy, and Nelle — perhaps most potently in Game 3 of the finals, when Quiambao was benched for more than four minutes in the fourth quarter which left DLSU without their best playmaker.
However, Season 88 will see a La Salle side with a refreshed supply of point guards with Cortez and Baclaan in the mix. These two are welcome additions to the squad’s roster of experienced guards including EJ Gollena, JC Macalalag, and Vhoris Marasigan, who each had their shining moments last season.
In addition, the Green Archers have a handful of other promising talents who will be looking to prove themselves ahead of next season. This includes Justin Buenaventura and Russel Ogana, who shined brightly for DLSU in last year’s PG Flex Invitational Basketball Tournament, as well as Rhyle Melencio, a former De La Salle Zobel star and UAAP Season 85 Boys Mythical Team member, and six-eight Fil-Am center Dominic Sarmiento.
Not to mention that Mike Phillips, AKA Motor Mike, already committed to playing his final year with La Salle.
All this could be enough to soften the blow of last season’s losses. With a stacked lineup, DLSU’s chances of getting back to the top in UAAP Season 88 are strong — though, of course, not promised.
As Coach Topex himself already preluded after Game 3, “We don’t know if we’ll play in the Finals next season, that’s not guaranteed.”
But with how the Archers’ UAAP Season 87 campaign ended, what is guaranteed is that they will be looking to make a comeback for the title once again.
Banner image by Kieran Punay of KLIQ Inc.