[Last Lap] Recalling UP’s glorious basketball past

MANILA, Philippines – The bonfire that burned lit up the nighttime sky to celebrate a rare victory and hopefully to point to better things.  

University of the Philippines alumni, including reporters, joined in to celebrate the end of a 27-game losing streak in the UAAP. The main man of the night was JP Gallarza who torched Adamson with 24 points. (IN PHOTOS: The UP Fighting Maroons finally win one)

The most famous bonfire was in the NCAA, where La Salle made it famous when the Green Archers won. Merriment reigned and stories of deeds past and present were told.

A few decades ago, sportswriters had at their fingertips not only UE’s number of championships but National University’s losses. For many years, the NU Bulldogs did not live up to its name. NU would spoil a team’s championship bid but they never came close to their 1954 UAAP triumph.

It seems this role has been passed on to UP. As teams seek to enter the Final Four, other teams try their best not to be the doormat.

It’s hard to believe that UP, which produced some of the country’s sports leaders and best basketball players, would be dead last in the cage wars. UP can’t just recruit good players; they need good players who can pass their subjects.  

As UP celebrates, I recall those years where UP was feared in the UAAP: 1981 to 1986. UP was in the final three times: 1982, 1983 and 1986, where it won the cage crown.

(RELATED: UP wins, Twitter goes nuts)

They were led by Joe Lipa, a tall, placid man who would be transformed into pure energy in critical games. His quiet smile would become a frown and mild speaking voice stentorian as he shouted :”Deny, deny!” to his men who were not as big but always had the heart he wanted. 

His first season was so-so but the Fighting Maroons were no longer that hapless. He laid down the law in one team huddle. “I know you will ask will I remove him. I wasn’t getting out of him and I had to bench him,” he said in a firm tone. 

But in 1982, UP led by a fearless high-leaping forward named Vincent Albino, barged into the finals against UE. They lost the series but they showed the promise they had. 

In a second-round game in 1984 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, some members of FEU’s Magnificent Seven, who placed fourth in the 1960 National Open, were behind the bench as they played UP. In a close game, Joselino Roa Jr was bending low to get the loose ball when Eric Altamirano dove and swiped the ball away. Roa’s father, a deadshot of that storied quintet, banged his hand at the railing.     

In a 1984 clash with UST, Lipa barked: “Keep the ball away! Make them work for it!” as the Fighting Maroons tried to keep the taller Glowing Goldies out of position under the basket. UP’s center was the stocky 6-foot-3 Carlos Garcia who would grab the defensive rebound and feed it to his teammates for the fastbreak. 

UP limited UST scoring machine Pido Jarencio and his backcourt partner, Benjie Gutierrez, who was accurate outside the perimeter, through a switching defense.  

 UST coach Charlie Badion bolted from his seat and froze some of those Goldies with a fearsome scowl, the war mask he used to intimidate bigger scorers when he was known as Bad Boy Badion when he was a national cager, when UP would corral the loose ball. On that hot and noisy afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Lipa steered the Fighting Maroons to triumph.

When UP acquired Benjie Paras in 1986, the last piece of their title aspiration was cemented. They had a powerful presence at center and a formidable backcourt of Magsanoc and Altamirano. The trio went on to lead national teams in an era of equally superb players like Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim and Glenn Capacio. Lipa coached the Philippines to a bronze medal finish in the 1986 Asian Games, ending a 24-year medal drought.

But the game is different now. The UAAP has become the nation’s top cage league and draws a huge following on TV and social media. Twitter buzzes with news and speculations.

Can the Fighting Maroons feed off the adrenaline of that victory? Will they slowly rise to contend for a Final Four slot? Or must people wait for a bonfire two years hence? – Rappler.com