The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles have surged in the second round of the UAAP Season 79 Men’s Basketball tournament.
After dropping a shock loss to the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, the cagers from Loyola Heights gathered themselves together and trusted coach Tab Baldwin’s process.
The result? A stunning turnaround by the Blue Eagles, winning five straight games — including wins against the league-leading De La Salle University Green Archers, defending UAAP Champions Far Eastern University Tamaraws, and season-hosts University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. The streak also gave the Blue Eagles solo second in the standings with a 9-4 slate.
But with it comes the high expectations from the community — especially as they are the only team to have wounded the Green Archers this season.
First-year Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin understands that the high expectations placed on the team now should not get into the heads of his young team.
“I think we understand that expectation have began to escalate a bit for this team,” the American-Kiwi mentor shared after Ateneo’s 74-64 win over UST.
“It’s unfair but that’s life, that’s the way it is. It’s up to us to live to that expectations but more importantly we have to live up to our own expectations.”
The former National Team mentor continues to emphasize that his team, which only parades two fifth-year players, is still learning. Moreover, they cannot let their guards down, especially with the twice-to-beat incentive within their reach — a highly coveted incentive entering the Final Four.
“This has been learning process for the players and I think it will continue to be that. I think we have to keep our eyes very focused on continuing to develop,” the 58-year-old mentor said.
“In reality, we put ourselves in a position where we can get a twice-to-beat so we have to forget everything else and put everything in that game and see where that takes us.”
And he and his team are just continuing to ride the wave and enjoying every moment as a team.
“We’ll continue to enjoy that ride but we have to continue to realize that we should need to continue to learn. That’s the nature of this team, of these players,” he furthered.
“In some ways we’re blessed, but right now there’s a lot of pressure to live up to what we’ve achieved so far.”
