THE FIRST round of the eliminations of Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines comes to an end this weekend with defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles looking to complete a sweep of their assignments.
Currently sporting a 6-0 record, the Eagles have been solid in their campaign where they hope to chalked up a third straight UAAP title.
The latest of the wins of Ateneo came on Wednesday over the University of the East Red Warriors, 85-68.
The Eagles had a hard time against UE (1-5) in said game, especially in the opening half where they actually trailed, but in the end the true game of Ateneo showed, resulting in its six straight win.
Foreign player Angelo Kouame was a tower power anew for Ateneo with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks with Thirdy Ravena and Adrian Wong adding 15 and 11 points, respectively.
While they are still undefeated and on track for a sweep of the first round, Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin underscored that there is still work that needs to be done on their part, with the UE game providing a good picture of that.
“I think it’s probably appropriate to talk more about UE than us. They came out with a good game plan. They obviously took notes watching us play. They used some counters to some of our defensive tactics which were effective particularly in the first half. I was a little bit annoyed with the team. I think we shouldn’t need timeouts we shouldn’t need halftimes to adjust. We have to expect that when you play a little different style that teams are going to pick you apart, they’re gonna analyze it, they’re gonna have counters to what you are doing, we should anticipate them, we should expect that,” said Mr. Baldwin postgame.
“The third quarter was the kind effort I wanna see in the team all the time. They played with some fire, some determination. The second you think you have nothing to prove you should get out of sports because the very nature of competition is that you have something to prove to your opponent if nobody else. I think in the third quarter we figured that out. We began to play with assertiveness. I think for us when we’re assertive, effectiveness comes with that so we can’t be passive, we can’t be tentative,” he added.
To complete a sweep, Ateneo faces the streaking University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons (5-1) on the final day of the first round on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 4 p.m..
It is going to be a rematch of last season’s UAAP finals, something Mr. Baldwin said they are approaching as another game but nonetheless mindful that they should be at their best.
“It’ll be really interesting to see that game. All of us are still trying to prove who we are at this point. Maybe it will have a playoff-type atmosphere. But for us, we will approach it as just the next game. We’ll go out and play good basketball. I have no idea how UP will approach it. You have to ask them. But for us, we will know the job before Sunday but something we’ll be working on tonight. I don’t have any different expectations of my team except to come out and play good basketball,” the Ateneo coach said.
The final weekend of the UAAP first round will see the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers battle (4-2) the De La Salle Green Archers (2-4) at 2 p.m. and the Adamson Soaring Falcons (3-3) and Far Eastern University Tamaraws (2-4) at 4 p.m. on Sept. 28, and UE versus the National University Bulldogs (1-5) at 12 noon on Sept. 29. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
