Ateneo de Manila University bowed to archrival De La Salle University in UAAP men’s basketball for the first time since November 2017.
The Green Archers came away victoriously with an 83-78 decision on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in front of 12,056 fans.
Ateneo head coach attributed the loss to “self-imposed composure”.
“I think we had issues with let’s just call it self-imposed composure,” said Baldwin after the match.
“Again, that’s being a bit unfair to La Salle because they certainly had a lot to do with pressure in that game but I think we did things as a basketball team and as individuals that are going to be extremely detrimental to our capability of vying for a championship,” the former Gilas head coach continued.
“If we don’t fix that this moment, then we can start looking at Season 86.”
The frustrated bench tactician is hitting the panic button as early as now, with the Blue Eagles just in their third game at 2-1.
And his wards – who were led by Ange Kouame’s 22 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks this match – were issued a challenge by Baldwin during the postgame interview to adjust right away.
“Has to be fixed immediately. It’s not a process. It’s their (players) job. They damn well better.”
Despite the painful defeat, Baldwin saw some positives in the match, which he thought could have given them the game.
However, pesky La Salle had all the answers with Schonny Winston tallying 25 points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals.
Baldwin pointed out how the Blue Eagles grabbed 36 offensive rebounds in the game, resulting in 28 second chance points. He also mentioned how they managed to slice their turnovers from nine in the first half to just six in the second.
“That’s probably what is more disheartening than losing the game. When you put up rebounding numbers that I’ve never seen in my life, 36 offensive rebounds, 55 percent well that’s extraordinary,” he said.
“With those numbers, I believe rightfully expect the scoreline to look a lot different and it didn’t.”
