Paul Desiderio made a lot of noise with his cold-blooded game-winning trey against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers during the University of the Philippines’ opener. The clutch performance shadowed his 6-for-20 shooting.
But on Wednesday night, nothing could cloud his dismal shooting, as the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles locked him down, shooting just 4-for-18 from the field for nine points.
“Struggle talaga. Na-scout talaga kami. Halos lahat ng play namin, na-counter ng Ateneo,” a defeated Desiderio admitted as the Fighting Maroons were no match for the Blue Eagles, losing 92-71.
As the team captain, the Cebuano took all the blame for the loss, admitting that he had focused too much on scoring instead of involving his teammates.
“Personally di ako naka-adjust, masyado akong naka-focus sa scoring,” Desiderio lamented.
He clarified that his struggle with scoring has nothing to do with his injury, a meniscus tear in his right knee.
“Siguro hindi na [dahil sa injury], pero nasa utak na lang e. Hindi na talaga yung katulad dati na salaksak lang ng salaksak, naiilang lang talaga,” the Cebu native shared.
“Okay naman na, hindi ko na iniinda.”
But UP’s ace assured that he will look to bounce back and be more of a floor general come their next outing.
“Siguro sa next game, playmaker na ako sa team, maga-adjust ako,” the 5-foot-10 combo guard said.
“Yung UP community gusto talaga manalo e. Hopefully, makuha namin.”
By: Danine Cruz
