Dahil sa 16-game sweep sa UAAP 82 ‘Dream season’ para sa Ateneo
MANILA, Philippines — Bukod sa ‘three-peat’, naging makasaysayan din ang panalo ng Ateneo Blue Eagles laban sa University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers sa best-of-three Finals series dahil sila pa lamang simula sa Final Four era ng UAAP noong 1993 ang tanging koponan na nakagawa ng 16-game sweep sa UAAP.
Nahigitan ng Blue Eagles ang 14-game sweep ng UST noong 1993 kaya inilarawan ni Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin ang tagumpay bilang “Dream Season” ng nasabing Katipunan-based team.
“Sixteen and 0 season. It really is something that we dreamed about,” sabi ni Baldwin matapos ang laro. “We didn’t talk a lot about it because we never wanted to set that as a goal. But I know that the players particularly dreamed about it and it is a dream season to go through. Unblemished and to be able to say that each one of those 16 games no team was better than us.”
Sinabi ni Baldwin na binabantayan niya ang kanyang mga players para hindi maapektuhan sa kanilang misyon na makamit ang ikatlong sunod na panalo.
“You have to guard against arrogance. You have to guard against overstating what is something that is pretty exceptional,” dagdag pa ni Baldwin.
Ayon pa kay Baldwin, nagbunga rin ang pagsisikap at sipag ng kanyang mga manlalaro kaya sila nagtagumpay laban sa Growling Tigers ni mentor Aldin Ayo.
“Working with these guys everyday make me a better person because of the quality of their character, because of the work rate that they have that humbles me. Believe me there’s a lot of nights that I go home and feel bad about the demands I put on these guys and sometimes the way I do it,” pahayag ni Baldwin.
“I know I’m not always the nicest guy in the room. It’s very humbling when these men sacrifice their egos, sacrifice their time. They lay it out there everyday and I think it is the result of that,” dagdag pa nito.
Sa kanilang pang-11 titulo ay umangat sa pang-apat ang Ateneo sa bilang ng may pinakamaraming korona sa UAAP sa likuran ng Far Eastern University na hawak ang 20 at may tig-18 naman ang UST at University of the East.
Pang-lima naman ang De La Salle Green Archers na may siyam.
Si guard Thirdy Ravena naman ang may pinakamaraming Finals MVP sa kanyang nakuhang tatlo kabilang na sa Season 82.
“Definitely not easy. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t smooth, we had a lot of rough roads that we encountered, and the best part about it is that everyone was willing to their part for one another, to make the team better,” sabi ng 22-anyos na si Ravena, isa sa limang manlalaro na mawawala sa Blue Eagles line-up sa susunod na taon.
Ang ibang graduating players ay sina Mike at Matt Nieto, Isaac Go at Adrian Wong na nagpahayag na sa kanyang intensyon na sumali sa PBA Draft sa susunod na buwan kahit may isang taon pa siyang nalalabi sa UAAP.
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