The Tycoon’s empire is just beginning
If there’s one person who perfectly epitomizes the UAAP Season 79 campaign of the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, it has got to be Isaac Go.
Go, 20, was the Blue Eagles’ biggest revelation. Playing just a total of 38.7 minutes in his rookie year, the 6-foot-8 big man slowly cracked coach Tab Baldwin’s rotation midway through the season. He played a pivotal role in Ateneo’s late-season surge that helped him bag the Most Improved Player of the season award.
“At the start of the year, we had G-Boy [Babilonia] and [Chibueze] Ikeh still. I didn’t see myself getting this far in the season, but I guess the way I’ve been playing is just because of the trust my teammates had in me, the coaching staff had in me,” the Filipino-Chinese center said.
“It’s been long, it’s been hard, but it’s been enjoyable. It’s been one hell of a ride this year. I didn’t expect to be where I am right now because even though we had the Most Improved in our sights, it’s an individual award.”
“I still can’t believe I won because honestly, I had no expectations winning,” the product of Xavier High School added.
In the Finals series though, the realization that his personal improvement still has a long way to go. Go struggled against La Salle’s frontline, averaging 7.0 points on 6-for-19 shooting and 5.5 rebounds while giving up nine fouls in the two contests.
Facing Ben Mbala and the rest of La Salle’s imposing frontline was a lesson he will never forget. And in the off-season, he plans on improving his strength and conditioning to solidify his role as Ateneo’s lead anchor.
“[I need to improve on] everything. A lot of things. I think, the first one would be my body. That would be the first one I have to work on this coming off-season.
“We don’t know what coach Tab’s plans are next year so it’s good to, might as well broaden your skill set and getting your body ready,” he shared.
Looking for motivation for the next eight months won’t be a problem for Go. After experiencing a silver finish, the Tycoon is now looking for gold.
“Winning the championship is always the end goal. All the individual accolades, who knows, but at the end of the day, what drives you to come back another year is you want that championship, you wanna bring back that trophy to Katipunan,” he vowed.
“That’s gonna be my number one factor helping me continue to improve.”
