‘Five-peat’ gusto ni Baldwin na makuha ng Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines — Winalis ng Ateneo Blue Eagles ang University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 2-0, sa kanilang best-of-three championship series ng UAAP Season 82 para angkinin ang ikalawang sunod na titulo noong Mi­yerkules.

Ngunit hindi pa sapat ang back-to-back titles para kay Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin.

Sinabi ni Baldwin na ang kanilang narating ay ka­piraso lamang kung iku­kum­para sa ‘five-peat’ na na­kamit ng Blue Eagles mu­la 2008 hanggang 2012 sa panahon ni dating coach Norman Black.

“First of all, back-to-back doesn’t look so impor­tant when you put it next to five in a row. It looks like a little bump on the road com­pared to that mountain they did,” sabi ng New Zea­lander coach.

Hindi rin malayo na ma­rating ni Baldwin ang na­gawa ni Black dahil halos buo pa rin ang Blue Eagles sa susunod na taon sa pa­ngunguna ni back-to-back Finals MVP Thirdy Ra­vena, Matt Nieto, Mike Nieto, Raffy Verano, Isaac Go, Gian Mamuyac, Jolo Men­doza at 2018 Rookie of the Year Angelo Kouame ng Ivoria.

“We want to pursue ex­cellence and I guess, a championship is one mea­sure of excellence. We hope that we continue to have more championships in the future,” dagdag pa ni Baldwin.

Nagpahayag din ng parehong hangarin ang 6-foot-10 na si Kouame da­hil mayroon pa siyang na­titirang apat na taon sa UAAP.

Samantala, kahit naman mawala sa kampo ng Figh­ting Maroons sina team captain Paul Desi­derio, Diego Dario, JJ Es­pa­ñola, Jarrell Lim at Gelo Vito sa susunod na season ay mananatiling strong con­tender pa rin ang Diliman-based team dahil sa pag­pasok nina Ricci Rivero at Kobe Paras.

Mananatili pa rin sa Fighting Maroons sina Season MVP Bright Akhuetie, Juan Gomez de Liaño, Ja­vi Gomez de Liaño, Will Go­zum at Jun Manzo sa susunod na taon.

“It’s not about Ricci (Ri­vero), Kobe (Paras), or Juan (GDL) or Bright (Ak­huetie). It’s about the team. They need to understand the goal of the team. It’s not about them, it’s about what you can do to  help the team accomplish that goal,” pahayag ni UP coach Bo Perasol.