MANILA, Philippines – Defending champions UP Fighting Maroons are expecting a rough and tough opening game when they begin their UAAP title retention bid against the DLSU Green Archers on Saturday, October 1, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
In a rematch of last season's Final Four battle that reached a deciding Game Two, head coaches Goldwin Monteverde and Derrick Pumaren foresee a good game.
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"Right now, we're preparing for them, and La Salle is a very good team. Ganun naman kami, every time we go to a season, we just take it as anong dumating and face the challenge," Monteverde said during the UAAP Season 85 media conference on Wednesday.
Monteverde's wards were pushed to the limit by DLSU, as UP's twice-to-beat advantage was erased and the eventual champions were almost eliminated by the Taft cagers led by Evan Nelle, Mark Nonoy and Mike Phillips.
DLSU also had a great preseason as they were able to snag the championship in the PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup over the Marinerong Pilipino.
Still, Pumaren remains wary of the confidence that the Diliman squad will bring to the opener after winning their first title in decades last May.
"Coming as defending champions, they have a different confidence level now, compared to the bubble tournament." said Pumaren.
"I can guarantee that we will just play hard, just work hard and compete to have a chance of winning." he added.
Both teams expect to win in their clash, which guarantees a dog fight for the first win of the season between the two title contenders.
"We're looking forward to UP, we wanna win it... We're not here to lose any game." said DLSU guard Nelle.
"I expect a hard fought game [and] I expect to win." said UP star and UAAP Mythical Five member Zavier Lucero.
Scheduled at 4 p.m., UP-DLSU is the main game of the opening day of UAAP Season 85.