Ateneo de Manila University coach and lifer Sandy Arespacochaga has seen his share of spectacular Blue Eagle performances. Moreover, he has seen a number of blue-chip recruits either sink or swim in their first year of duty in Loyola Heights.
But when asked about Tyler Tio’s sensational UAAP debut Wednesday night, even he admitted that it is up there when it comes to the great debuts he has witnessed.
“Kiefer [Ravena]’s rookie performance was the opposite, but he made sure to make up for it in the next game, ‘di ba?” quipped Arespacochaga after a long pause.
“Off the top of my head yan yung naisip ko. Medyo matagal na ako kaya nagkahalo-halo na ang memories ko ng mga players.”
Some of Tio’s predecesors had succumbed to the pressure during their debuts.
Ravena had gone scoreless during his back in 2011, while Ryan Buenafe was limited to just eight points during Ateneo’s season-opener back in 2008. Both would go on to have stellar career in Ateneo.
The 19-year-old rookie from Xavier School, who sat out last season due to passport issues, erupted for 14 points in his first game, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, 2-of-2 from downtown.
But for Tio, the only thing on his mind during that time was that he could not embarrass himself in front of a huge crowd at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Of course, I was very excited to play, but I wasn’t thinking coming into the game that I had to score this amount of points. I just wanted to make sure that I played correctly, follow coach Tab [Baldwin]’s system,” shared the SMART Sports Player of the Game after Ateneo’s 92-71 win against the University of the Philippines.
“Thankfully, okay naman ang nangyari.”
The tough thing about opening your career like this is how to follow it up or upstage it. But Tio isn’t thinking about that, saying that he’ll just do whatever Baldwin wants him to do.
“Tough to say, tough to say. I don’t wanna say anything. I just wanna try my best and God will take care of the rest.”
And this mindset has been instilled in this disciplined batch of Blue Eagles — to do your job and not think of the numbers.
“Like he said, he’s just doing his job. That’s part of our philosophy, players come in and do their job. It could be that one guy is hot this game, next game another,” added Arespacochaga.
“So we go with the hot hand, and we went with Tyler.”
