Ateneo de Manila University sought a greater challenge after matching up against PBA guest team Bay Area in a tune-up game held behind closed doors at Moro Lorenzo Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The Dragons dominated for the most part of the game and looked well on their way to a victory as they held a 20-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
However, the Blue Eagles were able to mount a late rally to trim the deficit down to seven with 41 seconds left in the game.
Challenged by the run made by Ateneo, Bay Area responded by showing better composure down the stretch to pull out a 103-92 triumph.
After falling short of an upset win, Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin was still satisfied with the way his team performed against their more experienced opponents.
“We knew it would be tough, really good workout for us,” he claimed. “Happy with the team that they were competitive to the end. Guys played really hard.”
At the same time, he also understands that Bay Area still hasn’t reached its peak form as the Dragons are in the middle of developing their chemistry as a team as well. Baldwin is also hoping to face his longtime rival Brian Goorjian once again before they start competing in the upcoming 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup set to begin next month.
“Of course, Brian does a great job as a coach and he hasn’t had a long time with a full roster yet,” the American-Kiwi mentor shared. “So they’re gonna get a lot better and we’d like to play them again. We wanted to be even tougher and more competitive.
“We need to be tougher and more competitive.”
Two weeks ago, Ateneo kickstarted its offseason preparations by participating in the World University Basketball Series staged in Tokyo, Japan. The Blue Eagles went on to sweep all three of their opponents en route to bagging the inaugural championship of the tournament.
Despite their success in that particular competition, Baldwin pointed out that they remain to be a work in progress as they still have to address several areas on both ends of the floor.
“We haven’t had many games. The games that we had were good but they weren’t quite this level,” the three-time UAAP champion coach stressed. “We found a lot of holes, offensively and defensively. It’s still a lot to work on. We knew there was a lot to work on.
“But right now, it’s right through in your face. You can see it, it’s very clear.”
Still being bugged by injuries along with having a couple of new faces on their roster, the Blue Eagles need to exert more effort in polishing their overall game as a collective unit.
According to Baldwin, getting more runs under their belt will be crucial in allowing them to spot the areas that they need to improve on as the offseason progresses.
“We’ve got a lot of video work to do. We have to look at our systems and see where they’re breaking down,” he stressed. “And the coaching staff can figure it out but in order to make the adaptations and adjustments, you’ve got to go through these game situations.
“We were on their case the whole time about a couple of adjustments and we never made them the whole game. So these are the things that are part of the learning curve for the team and we have to go through it.”
At the end of the day, Baldwin was satisfied with the fight that his men have shown against a Bay Area side that has a couple of former NBA players on its roster.
Above all else, valuing the importance of possessing a winning mentality even when facing stronger competition is something that he clearly wants to emphasize for his team moving forward.
“We’ll get better at that. We have to get better at that if we wanna win,” he said. “But I’m just happy the boys played that game right through the final buzzer to compete with these guys and try to win.
“Our guys don’t like to lose and I don’t want them to ever feel comfortable losing so I was happy with that attitude and that disposition.”
