Tab Baldwin returned to the sidelines against University of Santo Tomas, and he did not miss a beat.
Baldwin missed Ateneo’s 61-65 loss to National University last Saturday due to illness.
Today, he directed the defending champions to a 67-59 win over league cellar dwellers UST in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The American-Kiwi mentor is never afraid to speak his mind, and he gave a blunt response when asked about how his team will approach its last three games of the campaign against Adamson University, University of the East, and archrival De La Salle University.
“It’s the same as it always is. It’s very interesting to me to hear you guys in the media. You really don’t believe, probably a lot of other coaches (and) not just me, but you really don’t believe me when I say, you know, it’s always the next game,” said Baldwin.
“Three-game losing streak, you know, when was that? I mean, literally, we have losing streaks. We might string a few of them together, but that’s our mindset — we lose, we move on to the next one. We win, we move on to the next one.”
There is no doubt that Baldwin is a fighter, and he wants his Blue Eagles to take it one game at a time in their quest to make it into the Final Four.
He may also be combative and blunt once in a while in press conferences, but that is just how it is.
The former Gilas Pilipinas mentor knows how hard the task at hand is, and he will not deviate his focus from the challenge posed by the Soaring Falcons.
“At the end of the season, you can talk about slumps and streaks and things like that. But we only have right now, the fact that we have to break this game down and analyze it and prepare for Adamson. That’s it,” he said.
“That will never ever change, so you can just file that question forever about what’s the mindset. That is the mindset now and forever. Lock it in cement. It won’t change.”
