Six games into the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, Zavier Lucero is showing why he is such a prized recruit for University of the Philippines.
The 6-foot-6 forward has the task of replacing the production of Kobe Paras and Javi Gomez de Liaño. And in 33:55 minutes of action against De La Salle University, he led the Fighting Maroons with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
The highlight was a monster slam on Green Archers captain Justine Baltazar at the 5:51 mark of the fourth quarter.
For the 22-year-old Filipino-American, it was a spur-of-the-moment play.
“I think as a team we knew that, we went into that fourth quarter trailing. And we had 10 minutes to get it together,” said Lucero. “I think like coach (Goldwin Monteverde) said, a huge part of that was Carl (Tamayo) and his defense and I think he’s gonna get credit for it. But him on the floor against Balti helped us get stops, because their whole offense goes through him. Maimai (Cagulangan) made timely shots and timely passes.
“CJ (Cansino), James (Spencer), the guys we had that were crashing the defensive boards really helped us as well.”
Lucero’s dunk on Baltazar brought the Fighting Maroons to life since it trimmed the Green Archers’ cushion to just three points at 49-52 with 5:50 to go in the contest. It breathed new life into UP’s players.
They managed to overturn the deficit and hold on for the win, which gives them a 5-1 record with one more game in the first round to play.
For his part, the former California State University Maritime Academy student is crediting his teammates for how they contributed to him scoring that highlight play.
“To be honest, I don’t know how we got the ball. Maimai had it and we got numbers. Carl was sprinting down as well and he forced Balti to see him, and I was able to come in and wait and Maimai found me with great passing, and the rest was just two points,” he said.
“Chinallenge ko talaga kasi gusto namin manalo e. So yun, wala e, na-shoot e,” recalled Baltazar of the play.
Much talk was about how Lucero would play against a Gilas-developed Baltazar but he played things down. Even if both of them did not match up much against each other, it is safe to say that they earned each other’s respect.
To be better, players need to compete against top peers and it was one such showdown today.
“It’s fun. As I said, I didn’t guard him too much. That was Carl. Playing against a Gilas player, I play against Carl every day so I get to see that first-hand.
“Carl’s a really good player. I have to give the credit to Carl again and our team as a whole for sticking to the game plan and making it tough for them. We did a pretty good job on the whole,” he said.
After a slow start to life in the UAAP and Philippine basketball, Lucero finally looks at home with the Fighting Maroons. As the saying goes, it is not how one starts but how one finishes.
With so much to play for this season, though, Lucero is just taking it one game at a time.
“It’s still an adjustment every time we step out because I haven’t played here yet. As long as we’re getting wins and I can help our team in the ways that I can, the rest will come. I just try to control what I could control and try to fight through the growing pains we have in our team,” he concluded.
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