MANILA, Philippines – If there was one thing crystal clear in the mind of University of the Philippines Fighting Maroon guard Mikee Reyes, it’s that he refuses to take credit for scoring 15 points in the fourth and giving his team a prime chance at upsetting the Ateneo De Manila Blue Eagles. Instead, he takes all the blame for missing two potential game-winning free throws with less than a second left on the clock.
“It was a big choking experience for me. I’m not gonna deny that,” the 4th year Maroon said following UP’s heartbreaking 70-69 loss to Ateneo on Wednesday, September 3 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “It was a choke.”
Down by only a point with 0.2 seconds left, Reyes trooped to the line for two charities after he was fouled taking a stepback jumper. But he muffed both his attempts, handing UP its 11th loss of the season.
“I needed to make two more free throws to win the game. Without that, wala talo pa rin (it’s still a loss). It’s still 1-11 for us. I don’t take credit for whatever they’re saying (about my performance in the fourth),” Reyes said, also saying the lull in between his two attempts, where the clock was adjusted to read 0.8 seconds instead of 0.2, affected his rhythm.
“Nakatayo lang ako sa free throw line, sabi ko bakit ang tagal? Tapos syempre the crowd is getting into it. (I was just standing at the free throw line and I said what’s taking so long? Then the crowd was getting into it.)
“That’s how I shoot free throws. I take two dribbles then I shoot, hindi na ako tumatagal (I don’t take too long),” he added.
The 5-foot-9 point guard, who finished with 19 points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting along with 3 assists, admitted he is sick of coming close and falling short, which has been the pattern for UP over the past couple of seasons.
They had a breakthrough against Adamson in the first round, scoring their first win in two years, and set out to win at least two more games in the second round to call it a successful season.
Unfortunately, despite the game going down to a single possession, a victory eluded the Maroons once again.
“Sawa na ako doon eh (I’m tired of losing),” said a dejected Reyes. “Honestly, I’m not gonna take credit for bringing them, carrying the team to that position where we can win. For me, I lost the game for us, it’s my fault. Masakit siya (It hurts) but I hope I can learn from this moving forward.”
Before he faced the media, Reyes already took to Twitter to declare is disappointment.
Blame me.
— Mikee Reyes (@m9keereyes) September 3, 2014“It was the first thing I did when I entered the dugout,” he said of his tweet.
In the wake of Gilas Pilipinas’ heroic stand against powerhouse Argentina in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, many thought UP’s resistance against Ateneo was something very similar.
Reyes himself felt the pain of blowing an opportunity to pull off a monumental upset against a perceived Final Four team, just like Jayson Castro failed to make anything of a Gilas possession that could’ve won them the match.
“Just the other day dinefend ko si Jayson Castro sa Twitter din (Just the other day I was defending Castro on Twitter also),” he said. “You can’t blame the guy but now I’m in his position, it hurts. It hurts. But then it’s on me, no one else.” – Rappler.com
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