After dropping a game against neighbors University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, the young Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles went back to basics, according to head coach Tab Baldwin.
The much-needed break of the Blue Eagles served its purpose, as they were able to notch two straight wins at the expense of the lowly University of the East Red Warriors and Final Four-contenders National University Bulldogs. And it was the Blue Eagles’ defense that stood out in both games, holding both teams to below 35 percent from the field.
“The most dangerous animals in the planet are the wounded animals, and NU is too good to have that kind of run. So obviously they’re trying to figure out within their camp what’s going on, but we fully expected them to be dangerous,” Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin remarked about the mindset of his team entering last Sunday.
“And also, during that losing run for them, they’ve had great starts to games. So we were wary of the start. We wanted to make sure we came out and had a good start, and we did. We had a good start and I think that settled us.”
And the calm Ateaneans did not let their guards down, stifling the Bulldogs in two eight-point quarters en route to their sixth win in 10 games.
“We’re maturing, we’re learning a few things. There are still some areas where we still have a lot of work to do,” the American-Kiwi mentor shared about the now-third seeded Blue Eagles.
But even with this small feat, the 58-year-old former National Team head coach is hoping that the team does not fall into the trap becoming lax.
“I think it’s important for us to stay humble and not get carried away with some of the limited success that we’ve had. We have some very good teams ahead of us, Adamson, La Salle, and FEU,” he said.
“So if we drop our guard one little bit, we’re gonna get smacked around and it would be very foolish on our part.
“I think we still have a lot to learn. Obviously our defense is maturing and a fairly tough proposition for other teams, but we still have to get better offensively,” he admitted.
