During the end of Ateneo de Manila University’s 91-80 victory against University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, coach Tab Baldwin was visibly angry and deep in remonstration against the table officials.
Despite seeing the Blue Eagles sweep the first round of the season and clinching their 33rd consecutive win, Baldwin felt infuriated with the circumstances in the game’s finale. He even had his lead assistant Sandy Arespacochaga take over the media duties post-game.
“I think some of the calls, like in the end, one of our players, Geo Chiu, got a direct hit on the way down but hindi pa nakita. But it’s not just that,” lamented Arespacochaga. “A lot of holds, we felt na, especially on Ange Kouame, (UST players) were holding him. [The referees] called some fouls, but I think we were stressing that from the very start.
“Ange couldn’t move without being held. We just felt it was unfair. Whether you’re 5-foot-11 or 6-foot-11, the rules should be the same – you can’t hold someone. I think that’s one of the complaints we had.”
Throughout his coaching career, Baldwin always preached consistency among everyone involved in the game. The 2002 FIBA World Championship semi-finalist has never been shy to speak his mind.
He expects that everyone, his players, opponents, and even those officiating the game, will give it their all until the final buzzer. Those who choose not to respect the game should be held accountable in his view.
“I think every game’s really going to be a dogfight. We’re not looking at our record, how many wins we have. That’s something we’ve been stressing to our players even in this game. The game’s not yet over,” added Arespacochaga.
“We’ve been coaching them. We’ve been hard on our players from the start to the very end. I guess that’s in a way what Coach Tab was also complaining to the referees about. Because if the game’s not yet over, we should continue to play properly.”
Ultimately, the game against UST in the first round is over and one suspects that Baldwin did not speak to the media so as not to escalate the current situation. There will be more battles to come and it is wise to pick the ones worth fighting.
The Blue Eagles are gunning for their fourth straight championship. That is all that matters from this point on.
“I think we have a lot of lessons we can learn from in the first round. The key is we improve heading into the next round. We’ll watch tape and we’ll prepare for our next opponent.”
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