Gone USTe (Game 3 debacle)

Editor’s Note: (The following piece was posted on the Facebook as the writer, a hard-nosed UST fan, shared his sentiments with other Tigers supporters on the Game Three debacle).

MANILA, Philippines - Sorry for these private thoughts but being a Thomasian, I know how bad we felt about the UST loss. It is even painful for one who after over 40 years of seeing cliffhangers and thrillers felt he would be jaded enough not to react to this kind of heartbreak loss. 

But I would rank this in the same level as the 2006 Busan shock defeat. Not so much of the trauma of losing big, not unlike being felled by a Pacquiao KO punch. At least that kind of a killer blow you don’t see coming.

But this UST loss to La Salle, you feel like being short-changed – despair and disgust taking over on top of the frustration and woes of blowing a clear won game, like some Greek tragedy ready to unravel to its sad ending. 

As if we’re destined to lose.

Consider: Karim Abdul was missing crucial shots in the last period because he had spent himself keeping the initiative for the Tigers earlier. This was further compounded by the early fouls incurred by UST big man Paolo Pe. 

Coach Pido, who rose above talks on his coaching ability and subtleties in the preseason, I felt, got “lost in transition,” squandering a 15-pt lead in the same quarter it was established. 

And the most galling – Aljon Mariano refusing to pass the ball to Jeric Teng, who was ready to live and die for one last shot at history, destiny, UST.

And as the crowd held its breath, Aljon took an ill-advised trey when a high percentage perimeter shot would have settled the issue. This coming from a huddle!

And the same guy fired the errant pass that led to turnover and La Salle’s game-winning play. It made you think something was amiss in the team, particularly in the endgame. 

How sad. You cannot help but grieve for the Tigers and UST fans. It was our championship to win or lose. No, more than a championship, losing it this way literally opens a chasm in us, probably where our pride was, for the wars in UAAP do not only involve school interplay for excellence but all the things we believe in and embraced in USTe – hope, faith, loyalty. And losing it leaves us somehow on a low ebb and empty. Until the next season.