Despite early struggle, Eagles remain upbeat

Ateneo de Manila University is having one of its ugliest starts in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

But Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin isn’t worried.

Baldwin believes that they are inching closer to finding the right mix to overcome the defensive intensity of their opponents in the early stretch of Season 87.

The Blue Eagles have slumped with three straight losses to powerhouse teams University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas (UST) and De La Salle University to slide to the basement with a 0-3 record in the country’s most prestigious collegiate league.

Against the Fighting Maroons, the foot injury suffered by Chris Koon and the inexperience of the young troika of Jared Bahay, Kris Porter, and Waki Espina in the crucial stretch doomed their chances, leading to a 66-71 setback.

Again, the lack of experience — and the familiarity of former Ateneo star Forthsky Padrigao to the system of Baldwin — enabled UST to drop an 18-4 bomb in the crucial stretch to secure a 74-64 win.

The loss crushed the Ateneo morale, giving reigning Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao and La Salle an easy time pulling off a 74-61 win over the weekend at the packed Mall of Asia Arena.

Still, Baldwin doesn’t see the reason to panic.

“We just got to get the win-loss record on the rails now. It was a pretty brutal start to the season, the schedule we had, but that’s the way it is,” the former Gilas Pilipinas mentor said, adding that they will go hard when they face Adamson University, Far Eastern University, University of the East and National University in the coming weeks.

“It doesn’t look very good right now, it’s awful at 0-3, but you know, we just believe that now we’ve got that stretch of the schedule out of the way we’ve got a week to prepare for Adamson, so we have to do a really good job because Adamson showed what they’re capable of today.”

Baldwin added that the key to finding their rhythm relies on Bahay’s ability to orchestrate the plays and other standouts to step up when the game is on the line.

“We want to see Josh Lazaro repeat what he did in the last game. We want to see Drew Bongo get going because these guys have offensive capabilities,” Baldwin added.