UAAP: Clarin says individual awards 'not our goal' as NU win streak hits 104 | ABS-CBN

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UAAP: Clarin says individual awards 'not our goal' as NU win streak hits 104

UAAP: Clarin says individual awards 'not our goal' as NU win streak hits 104

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

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NU
NU's Camille Clarin. UAAP Media.

MANILA, Philippines -- National University has three players in the top 10 of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) race after the first round of the UAAP Season 85 women's basketball tournament, but the Lady Bulldogs remain unconcerned about winning individual awards.

Karl Pingol ranked fourth in statistical points (SPs) with 74.8 after the first round, closely followed by Camille Clarin in fifth place with 74.286 SPs. Rookie Kristine Cayabyab shook off a slow start to place ninth, with 67.286 SPs.

Leading the way is University of Santo Tomas (UST) star Eka Soriano who has a massive advantage over the rest of the field with 101.143 SPs. She is followed by Ateneo de Manila University rookie Kacey dela Rosa (87.8 SPs) and point guard Jhazmin Joson (81.429 SPs).

"Good thing for them," NU coach Aris Dimaunahan said of his players' achievement. "But that's not our focus. Our focus really is to be in the championship and get the championship. That's the main goal of this team."

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"If those individual awards happen, we'll take it. Pero that's not the main goal of this team," he added.

Clarin said she personally does not think about the MVP race, and pointed out that the Lady Bulldogs have not won the top individual award in recent years, despite their dominance in UAAP women's basketball.

The last NU player to win MVP was Jack Animam in 2017. Since then, UST's Grace Irebu won back-to-back trophies with Soriano looking poised to follow in her footsteps.

"I mean, if you look at years past, NU has always lacked individual awards, but we always come up with the championship because that's the goal," said Clarin.

"Individual awards, great, if they happen, great. But that's not our goal. And, if they do happen, it's a result of the system and the way we play as a team. Not based off anyone's individual skill. It's a team effort," she added.

Rather than dwell on their place in the MVP ladder, Clarin said they are more concerned with improving their team. The Lady Bulldogs stretched their historic winning streak to 104 games on Sunday by crushing the University of the Philippines (UP), 95-68, but they were less than pleased with their performance.

The Lady Bulldogs committed 29 turnovers in the game, including a pair of miscues in the final two minutes that had Dimaunahan calling a timeout even with a comfortable lead.

For Clarin, it is clear that the Lady Bulldogs have "a lot of stuff we need to do before we're in our top condition to get that championship."

"Wins hide a lot of flaws, as Coach Aris says," she also said. "It does show us our weaknesses, even though we get the dub. So, it's just always teaching points. Lessons we need to focus on, and it gives us a good look at what we need to focus on for the next couple of games."

UAAP Season 85 is streaming on iWantTFC every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, available for Premium users outside the Philippines.

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