For the University of the Philippines to make their first trip to the Final Four since 1997, a special talent needed to have his hands on the steering wheel.
With a 3-5 record midway through UAAP Season 81, the Fighting Maroons handed their offensive reins over to their very own special talent, Juan Gomez de Liano. Since then, their record has been 5-1.
Now, State U will be seeing action in the Final Four for the first time in 21 years – and all because their sophomore standout, who had just turned 19-years-old, made all the right plays.
Juan GDL’s most crucial plays came in UP’s most crucial game in recent history last Wednesday. The Fighting Maroons were matched up against La Salle, with the third-seed up for grabs.
And all game long, the Season 80 Rookie of the Year did nothing but deliver. He eventually ended with 27 points, four assists, and three rebounds. More importantly, his performance pulled in the win that ended the Fighting Maroons’ playoff drought, which lasted for just over two decades.
For that, Juan GDL has been duly recognized as the Chooks-to-Go Collegiate Sports Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week.
All of this, for him, was a promise fulfilled. “I said off-season pa lang that we’re gonna make it to the Final Four. I promised coach Bo [Perasol], I promised everybody that we’ll be here, and now we’re here, we’re not taking it for granted,” he said.
Without a doubt, having their playmaker come off the bench and then controlling the offense once he’s on the floor was the key change that has fueled State U’s playoff push.
In the last six games – five of which they won – Juan GDL averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists off the bench. This, compared to their first eight games, five of which they lost, when he normed 19.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists as a starter.
But while they have finally broken through, Diliman’s homegrown talent said they are far from finished. “On to the next one still. Now we’re in the Final Four, we’re still hungry for the Finals,” he said.
Juan GDL celebrates his birthday by edging out kuya Javi and another UP teammate in Bright Akhuetie; the Ateneo pair of Angelo Kouame and William Navarro; and NU’s one-and-done big man Troy Rike for the weekly plum handed out by print and online scribes covering the beat.
