Setting aside their team’s rivalry in the ongoing UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball finals, De La Salle forward Mike Phillips took his time to shower some praises to University of the Philippines big man Quentin Millora-Brown for becoming a pivotal part in the Maroons’ run.

“I loved him. He’s a great guy even when we’re battling, talking, kinda encouraging. We go back and forth, but what I love most about him is just his motor,” said Phillips.

“I’m not saying he’s not talented. But he's a really good example of people that have energy, motor [and] hustle, you don’t really need talent. But it’s just given he is talented and he has those things,” he added.

Millora-Brown took the spotlight in Game 1 of their finals series, scoring 17 points on top of nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in helping the Maroons take Game 1, 73-65, to move a win away from clinching the title.

Phillips hoped more people would see Millora-Brown’s game.

“I hope a lot of people are inspired by him. I hope a lot of people see, he doesn’t care about scoring… or making a highlight… he does all the things no one wants to do,” he continued.

“There’s no stats on sealing, tipping the ball to their teammates, there’s no stats on helping the teammates up, he does all those things. It's just a contagious kind of play” he added.

Going back to their team’s matchup, Phillips aims to double his efforts after his 17-point output went to naught.

“It’s do or die, of course a player like QMB, it’s not gonna be a one man job. There’s no one on UP [that you can contain] doing a one man job. It’s always 16 strong,” Phillips said.

“There may be guys on the bench  you don’t see on the floor in the last game, they all helped. We’re gonna need that, double, triple, even ten times [the effort],” he concluded. “But it’s really about who wants it more and who believes in themselves and in each other more.”