The young Eagles grew up during their semifinals series against the FEU Tamaraws
Few gave this batch of Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles a shot at making the Final Four, let alone take a coveted Finals spot. A team composed of just one fifth-year player, many believed that the cagers from Loyola Heights lacked big-game experience to match-up with battle-tested squads like the DLSU Green Archers, the FEU Tamaraws, and the NU Bulldogs.
As the season progressed, the familiarity and chemistry between the Blue Eagles slowly developed. And during their semifinals series against the FEU Tamaraws, they suddenly grew-up.
“There are so many lessons to be derived from that series, that game, the scenarios, what we’re confronting now, how to prepare,” first-year Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin reflected about the series that saw an average winning margin of just 1.0 points.
“I just feel so blessed to be involved in that process”
A loss to the UP Fighting Maroons during the second round became a wake-up call to Ateneo. It forced them to embrace the American-Kiwi’s system and, on the other hand, made Baldwin trust his players more.
And by the end of the elimination round, the Blue Eagles were just playing beautiful basketball. They were able to end the round allowing just 66.3 points (second in the league) while putting up 71.3 points (third in the league). The stingy Eagles force their opponents to shoot just 35 percent from the league, tops in the league, while distributing the ball to the tune of 14.6 assists per game, second overall.
“These guys are outsanding to work with, they really listen, they’re a credit to the university, they’re a credit to the Ateneo community,” the 58-year-old mentor said.
But even if Ateneo was the only team to wound La Salle in the regular season, the National Team consultant is not blinded by that feat, reminding that they were on the other end of a blowout during their first round encounter.
“If they don’t see that we’re the underdogs, they’re blind. We are prohibitive underdogs in this tournament.
“But the confidence that we take from having beaten them once and, at the same time, knowing that that was a team that was a little bit complacent, that was a team that was on a 12-game run. That was a team that had beaten us soundly before, so we know that we’re not going to see the same Green Archers team in Game One,” he remarked.
Now that they are in the last stage of the tournament against their heated rivals, Baldwin and the Blue Eagles are making sure that this opportunity won’t go to waste.
“We are going to stand in front of them. We are not gonna bow out of the way, we are not gonna open the door for them,” he vowed.
“We’re gonna bloody them just like I’m sure they want to bloody us.”
