UST Growling Tigers point guard Forth Padrigao. UAAP Media
MANILA — University of Santo Tomas ended the first round of the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament with a victory.
Now sitting at 4-3 in the team standings, the Growling Tigers will enter the second round on a high note and in a good spot to push for a Final Four slot, and heading them in this run so far is Forth Padrigao.
"Galing kami sa dalawang talo eh, so I think that's enough motivation for us to get the win," said the 5-foot-11 ace who delivered 14 points, 11 assists, and four rebounds en route to an 83-72 win over Far Eastern University on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: Padrigao, Tounkara lead way as UST regains winning ways at FEU's expense
Entering this game, the former Ateneo de Manila University point guard was averaging 8.3 points, 6.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and a steal, but Padrigao downplayed this and said that this was a matter of staying patient and not forcing his way in his new team.
"Hinanantay ko lang na I'm letting the game come to me," he shared. "Yung distributing ko, it's really part of me. Yung shooting naman, yung scoring, I just do my best din lang naman."
Aside from this, Padrigao's main focus is to embrace his role as one of the España-based team's leaders on-and-off the court.
"I think [being a leader] is what is expected of me kasi I came here with the experience na," insisted Padrigao. "But at the end of the day, collective effort pa rin ang pagli-lead eh. Apat kami diyan, ako, si Migs Pangilinan, si Christian Manaytay, and si Nic Cabañero."
"Tinutulungan din nila ako sa ibang aspects kung saan sila pwedeng makatulong. But then, masaya lang ako na nagagawa ko yung role na dapat kong gawin," he added.
UST Growling Tigers point guard Forth Padrigao. UAAP Media
While he has been as good as advertised, Padrigao insists that what matters most for him is translating his numbers into wins for UST -- especially with Season 87 shaping up to be an unpredictable tournament.
"Masaya ako kasi nakukuha namin yung mga panalo. Alam kong kailangan namin yung panalo na ito for our second round eh, lalo na yung momentum," he said. "You also have teams like [University of the East], you have Adamson [University], sa standings. You know, we're just trying to focus lang sa things na we can control."
To maintain this, Padrigao said that maturity must be shown not only by him but by the whole team as they enter the final half of the season
"Sa second round, we're expecting na the games are gonna be tougher kasi nagka-laban na lahat ng teams, nakita namin yung strength and weaknesses ng isa't isa. Come the second round, may mga adjustments na mangyayari, so we're just expecting na talagang mas mahirap yung mga magiging panalo namin this coming second round," he said.
"So I think yung maturity lang namin dapat mas mataas pa sa second round," added Padrigao.
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