UAAP BEST FIVE: KQ, QMB SHINE AS OPENING WEEK'S TOP PERFORMERS
Editor’s Note: Every week, Spin.ph will pick the five best performers per position in the ongoing UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.
WHAT an opening week that was, right?
From solid debuts, reintroductions, struggles, and yes, game-winners, the first four games of the UAAP season had it all.
In the end, however, only a few earned their right to be named as this week’s best five.
Let’s get to know them.
Guard: JD Cagulangan (UP) – 17 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals vs Ateneo
PHOTO: Ivy Ferrer
JD Cagulangan no longer needs any reminder of the lofty goals that UP has for this season, and boy, did he show his desire to really accomplish those goals right from the get-go.
The veteran guard was steady at the point for the Fighting Maroons, one that really is no surprise given that he’s been doing it for the longest time.
What made Cagulangan’s performance really impressive is that he almost fashioned a triple-double, showcasing how much more of a complete player he has become in his final season in Diliman.
He's already arguably the best playmaker in the league today and if he continues this pace, UP might just be able to again reach the Promised Land.
Guard: Matty Erolon (Adamson) – 10 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists vs FEU
PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon
It hasn’t been the prettiest games for Adamson, but when it needed someone to take charge in the clutch, Erolon answered the call.
The 6-foot guard broke out of his team’s collective struggles from the field and drilled eight of his 10 points in the payoff period, creating the breathing room for his team to win comfortably.
Projections really haven’t been kind for the Soaring Falcons, but if role players like Erolon step up the way he did on Sunday, expect more surprises to come out of San Marcelino in this campaign.
Forward: Kevin Quiambao (La Salle) – 22 points, 3-of-8 from threes, 8 rebounds, 7 assists vs NU
PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon
No surprise here, KQ is still great.
It’s also no shock that he’s the one who took over and drilled the game-winner to save the defending champs from an opening day disaster.
Everything in La Salle revolves around Quiambao, but it’s more than just his scoring. His energy, rebounds, assists and his overall effect on his teammates are what drive the engine for the Taft juggernaut.
If there’s still a question on who the undisputed best collegiate player in the land today, that's already been settled in La Salle's opening game.
Forward: Nic Cabanero (UST) – 14 points, 2-of-8 from threes, 3 rebounds, 2 assists vs UE
PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon
No longer a one-man show, Cabanero was happy to pick his spots in UST’s first game of the season.
But despite the changes in the Growling Tigers’ lair, it’s still the fourth-year winger’s team and he made sure everyone knows it.
Unlike past seasons where he was predictable for his tendency to drive to the basket, Cabanero has a new weapon -- tossing threes. He made a pair, including one near the half-court, that, if this was the PBA, should count as a four-pointer.
UST expects Cabanero to play team leader again, a role he played the last two years. But if his long-distance accuracy improves some more, the Thomasians have reason to be upbeat for this campaign.
Center: Quentin Millora-Brown – 7 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks vs Ateneo
PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon
Knowing that he only has this season to introduce himself, Millora-Brown wasted no time displaying what he’s capable of in his lone year in UP.
Height was indeed might for the 6-foot-10 center, hauling down 17 rebounds as Ateneo tried, and failed, to stop the Fil-Am big in crashing the boards.
It’s still a small sample size, but QMB might just be the one to push the Fighting Maroons from being good to great.
6th Man: Mo Tounkara (UST) – 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals vs UE
PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon
Inside presence was what UST asked for from Tounkara, but him scoring at will in the paint was a welcome surprise if you’re a Growling Tigers fan.
There’s still a lot that he can improve on, especially after only gobbling up four rebounds, but after one game, the Malian center has made a good account of himself that he’s making coach Pido Jarencio look like a genius for picking him over Peter Osang.
2024-09-09T06:15:45Z dg43tfdfdgfd