Arvin Tolentino still proud as NorthPort defies expectations
At A Glance
- NorthPort may have fallen short of making it to the Finals after losing to Barangay Ginebra through five games in the semifinals, but it cannot take away the fact that the Batang Pier performed beyond expectations.
NorthPort may have fallen short of making it to the Finals after losing to Barangay Ginebra through five games in the semifinals, but it cannot take away the fact that the Batang Pier performed beyond expectations.

And that’s the silver lining NorthPort star Arvin Tolentino is trying to focus on to cope up with the semis heartbreak.
“I'm proud. I'm proud of my teammates. I'm proud of what the team has accomplished in this conference,” said Tolentino.
“Before nga, wala namang nagkakala na mag-playoffs kami or even mag-number one. Kahit nga kami, hindi nga namin alam na mag-number one kami. But we still believe,” he added.
True enough, the Batang Pier were one of the biggest surprises of the conference and even made a historic run in the eliminations when they finished as the top seed for the first time in their franchise.
And for that, Tolentino also hailed his teammates for making what initially looked impossible for the team to achieve possible.
“I'm proud of the effort na binigay ng mga teammates ko. The hard work and sacrifice. I guess, I like it totally as much as we wanna feel sorry for ourselves ngayon, sa laro, or after this conference,” said the Best Player of the Conference candidate.
“We still overachieved and that's something na we have to be proud of. It just so happens na nakalaban namin yung Ginebra sa semis,” he added.
Tolentino is particularly proud of defensive guard Joshua Munzon. The high scoring wingman believed the improvement in Munzon’s game was the biggest factor to their success in the conference.
“I think he took us to the next level at this conference. I'm proud of that guy. With the way he played this conference, I guess he's like malaking reason ba't kami nag-number one and why we made it to the semis,” Tolentino said of Munzon.