Although the University of the Philippines currently stands as the lone unbeaten squad at the Filoil EcoOil 17th ECJ Preseason Cup, both Francis Lopez and head coach Goldwin Monteverde know that a lot still needs to be done.
The Fighting Maroons were crowned as the champions of last year’s preseason tilt.
However, they eventually lost their second-straight UAAP Finals bout against the same team they beat for the title, De La Salle University.
Now, they hope to change things and ensure that their offseason preparation leads to another title for Diliman in UAAP Season 87 by taking it one game at a time.
“For us, we treat every game as an important game. So, we don’t take anything for granted, and we’re just gonna keep on going and going,” the sophomore Lopez said after their 68-46 beatdown of Adamson to sweep the UAAP bracket.
Lopez states that they do not discredit the progress they have made thus far at Filoil and feel excited to defend their throne once more.
“Of course, it’s all hard work that we put in every game. I’m just glad that we are still undefeated, and we just hope for the best for our team as well,” affirmed Lopez, who tallied 11 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in the win.
Meanwhile, for head coach Monteverde, the task at hand is to identify points of emphasis moving forward, including areas for improvement with their high-flying forward.
“Right now, every game, [ang improvement ni Francis] ang hinahanap namin. We always talk about improvement, lagi namin alam na there’s room for improvement. Doon kami pareho naka-focus,” Monteverde shared.
