ATENEO coach Tab Baldwin gave a passing grade to the Blue Eagles’ 5-2 mark at the end of the first half of the season and is convinced their title dreams are very much alive.
“Pretty comfortable with where we’re at. We’re getting better, we’re growing, we’re learning. That’s what you’re supposed to do over the course of a season,” Baldwin said after his wards dismantled University of the East 91-76 five days ago. “The second round is gonna be competitive and challenging, but we feel good.
“We feel good about where we’re at, we feel good about our team. We’re ready to go,” he added.
The Eagles try to launch their second-round campaign on a high when they take on Adamson University tomorrow for solo second in the 85th UAAP basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The match is set at 4 p.m. after La Salle seeks a big rebound from a painful 84-86 overtime loss to the Soaring Falcons last Saturday when it clashes with struggling University of Santo Tomas in the curtain-raiser at 2 o’clock.
Rence Padrigao, naturalized Filipino center and reigning MVP Ange Kouame, Dave Ildefonso, and BJ Andrade are expected to spearhead Ateneo’s charge.
“We’re developing. You look at our team, we’re not just developing them (players) to be good basketball players, but part of it really is… maturing as people, as a person and one thing I noticed on the players is that… they’re not really comfortable with adversity,” Adamson tactician Nash Racela said.
