End of the Road

Joe Lipa was let go as the coach of the UP Maroons today. The shockingly poor performance of the team -- the Maroons finished at 0-14 with a number of blowouts -- was cited as the reason for the acclaimed coach's dismissal. He was informed by Hercules Callanta, the Dean of Human Kinetics, who will endorse his recommendation to the Chancellor.

The last time a UAAP team didn't win a game was in 2001 when the Adamson Falcons despite the presence of Mark Abadia, Ramil Tagupa, Jojo Hate, and Patrick Tiongco failed to win a game. The Falcons lost a couple of close games to Ateneo (62-61 and 63-61), FEU (73-72), and NU (84-81). Adamson was then coached by Luigi Trillo.

Coach Joe was instrumental in turning around Ateneo's moribund basketball program as well as De La Salle Zobel's -- a fact unbeknownst to many. Zobel coach Boris Aldeguer sought Lipa's help in giving it some direction. Since then, DLSZ has become a power in juniors basketball. According to one team source, the connection with Aldeguer is one reason why Martin Reyes and Migs De Asis went to Diliman.

I was supposed to meet up with the coach after his meeting but he asked if we could re-schedule because of what happened. It's okay, coach. God bless!

Jobe Nkemakolam: Kawawa si coach Joe. Alam ko kulang sila sa players and siya nagrecruit sa kanila. But kung si Luigi Trillo ilang taon walang panalo pinatapos nila. And he (Trillo) had better players.