Baldwin all praises for La Salle star Quiambao

MANILA, Philippines -- Just elite.

La Salle superstar Kevin Quiambao should be mentioned in the same breath as the other UAAP greats in the past decade, Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin stressed.

On Sunday, Quiambao and the Green Archers ran away in the second half to send the Blue Eagles to their third straight loss in the UAAP Season 87, 74-61.

There, the 23-year-old forward struggled from the field but still managed to flirt with a triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

In the process, the Taft-based cagers rose to the top of the competition with a 3-0 start in the season.

Baldwin, after the game, heaped praises to the forward.

“Kevin's just a really good player. He's elite in terms of UAAP standards from what I've seen over my eight years,” Baldwin said.

“He should be mentioned in the same breath as Carl Tamayo, Thirdy Ravena, Justine Baltazar. That's where he's at, especially in terms of when you're talking just about the Filipinos,” he added.

The reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player shot just 4-of-14 from the field, with the Ateneo defense understandably focusing on him.

Quiambao said he faced a box-and-one defense the whole game which forced him to miss some shots. He, however, looked for his teammates which led him to dish out seven assists.

“The mindset coming into this game was I had to step up. Then in the game, the defense of Ateneo was tight, and they were putting a box-and-one on me the whole game,” he said in Filipino.

“I just told my teammates to be ready because there will be moments that you will be free. You have to have confidence to take that shot and just be disciplined,” he added.

This kind of mindset, Baldwin emphasized, is what makes Quiambao elite.

“He doesn't just score, he reads the game well, he passes the ball well, and he's a leader in that team and we've already seen often this year both in preseason tournaments that in crunch time he has the ability to step up, so he deserves the respect he's getting,” the Fil-Kiwi coach said.

“When you play a box-and-one on somebody, that's one of the highest signs of respect that they can get, and we were happy with it. We felt he shot 28% in the game, we felt we gave him a lot of problems, but he did those extra things, rebounding and finding his teammates,” he added.

“That's what a really good player does when their opponent tries to take them out of the game. So full credit to Kevin, he's nothing but a real force in the UAAP, and he's somebody that every team has to be especially prepared for.”

La Salle will try to win its fourth straight game, taking on University of the East at the Mall of Asia Arena Sunday.