Emilio Aguinaldo College big man JP Maguliano issued a bold warning to other teams just days before the NCAA Season 99 started last month, saying: "Papahirapan namin silang lahat."
So far, Maguliano and the rest of the Generals have been living up to that statement as they remained in the Final Four hunt with a 7-5 win-loss record, which included wins over three of the four semifinalists last season.
EAC assistant coach Gonzalo Catalan said they're urging the graduating big man to make a statement in his final year in the NCAA.
"Nag-usap kami and sabi ko na last year mo na ngayon sa EAC so kailangan gumawa ka na ng statement at panindigan mo ‘yung sinabi mo na papahirapan natin ‘yung mga teams," Catalan said.
"And nag-react naman ‘yung bata."
(We talked and I told him it's his last year in EAC so he needs to make a statement and live up on what you said that we will challenge the other teams. In fairness, he reacted.)
Maguliano has been averaging 14.58 points for the Generals on top of 9.33 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.67 blocks, and 0.42 steals, crucial numbers for the Generals as they continue their Final Four bid.
With Maguliano at the forefront, the Generals remain a force to be reckoned with.
They showed that on Friday when they eked out an 82-69 victory against defending champion Colegio de San Juan de Letran where Maguliano flirted with a double-double of 20 points and nine rebounds.
"‘Yung mga key players namin nandiyan lang naman so kami more on reminders lang. Palagi lang namin sinasabi sa kanila dapat madiin tayong dumipensa at hindi pwedeng nagre-relax lang tayo," Catalan added.
"Kahit na lamang kami kanina, pinu-push ko pa lalo ‘yung mga players at dapat doblehin nila ‘yung effort niyo para makuha natin ‘tong panalong ‘to."
(Our key players are always there so we just remind them. We tell them that we should be tough on defense and we should not be relaxing. Even if we were leading earlier, I still push them and they should double their efforts to get the win.)
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
