For Danica Jose, it is never too late to keep on improving and adding more weapons to her arsenal even in her final year in the UAAP women’s basketball tournament.
As the premier big of the Ateneo Lady Eagles, Jose knows her interior presence is vital for the team’s campaign, and continues to work hard to keep opponents guessing what she’ll do next.
Jose poured 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Ateneo’s 56-43 win over University of the Philippines Thursday, finally making an impact underneath with a slew of moves which included a face up game or sometimes going back to basket and carving some space underneath.
With the season still a long road for all teams, Jose says she will constantly try flourishing her game even more as she tries to fulfill a goal.
“Since it is my last year, I want to give Ateneo a championship before my exit,” she said.
“There is always room for improvement. The season is still long and it is anybody’s ballgame so we have to work hard for it,” Jose shared.
“The first two games were a learning experience for us. We had to start strong [in our next games] and that’s what we learned in this game.”
Jose also shared where she gets inspiration when she steps on the floor; while she does not base her skills from bigs, the 6-foot-2 center said she tries to carry the winning attitude of NBA star Kobe Bryant.
“Kobe Bryant is my favorite player ever since and his mentality on the floor is what I try to emulate. The moves, it’s just fundamentals. You have to get inside the basket and use your strength and size,” she said.
Jose credits her teammates for providing the ample help; players like Hazelle Yam, Akiko Tomita, Joleena Go, and Katrina Guytingco all gave the spark in the win against the Lady Maroons.
The center added it is how the team should be playing, and for the next games the Lady Eagles should be even better mentally and emotionally to succeed.
“It’s really a collective effort and I think that is how basketball should be played. Our team showed it today and all our hard work in practice really paid off,” she said.
“The team is still young so the maturity level on the court, we should really apply what we do in practices, like in-game situations and also learn from our mistakes.”
