By Jerome Lagunzad
Given a traditional victory ride by graduating players Chibueze Ikeh and Kris Porter, Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin threw his right arm in the air as the Blue Eagles basked in the glow of their title conquest in the UAAP Season 80 basketball tournament last Sunday night.
The American-Kiwi coach certainly have enough reasons to soak it all in after helping Ateneo avenge a painful two-game sweep dealt by archrival La Salle in last year’s finals and end the school’s five-year title drought in dramatic fashion.
“They didn’t really let me – watch from afar. But you know, we enjoyed it. And we’ll continue to enjoy it,” beamed Baldwin, 59, a veteran internationalist who once called the shots for Gilas Pilipinas but just claimed his first-ever title in the collegiate ranks.
“These boys worked a long time to get here. I told them, ‘We didn’t reach a peak, we reached a plateau, because there has to be room for the whole team.’ We didn’t do it as individuals, we did it as a team. So nobody stands at the peak alone.”
All the sacrifices and efforts given by each and every Blue Eagles earned them big dividends – and a fitting windfall from chief benefactor Manny V. Pangilinan who is set to hand out iPhone X’s and give them an all-expense-paid trip to Hong Kong.
“Finally the championship is back in Loyola and it’s full redemption to keep it here for as long as we can,” Pangilinan was quoted as saying during the team’s Thanksgiving Mass at the Church of Gesu inside the Katipunan-based campus.
Baldwin should also earn an ample share of credit for squeezing the best from the latest bunch of the Blue Eagles who are not as talented as the Green Archers – individually-speaking – but play like a well-oiled machine, especially in crunch time.
Wingman Thirdy Ravena emerged as the focal point of offense while big man Isaac Go turned out to be a clutch performer and heady playmaker Matt Nieto and the rest of the veterans provided the stability – night in and night out.
“I don’t know why I’m stuck on this team, but this team became special,” said Baldwin. “There’s no individual that makes this team special because it just dedicated itself to hard work.
“I couldn’t give this guys enough to do and I think that’s a revelation for me. After spending 35 years coaching pros, you can’t ask pros what I asked these guys to do and they did it. They did every single thing that was asked of them – and they wanted more. And pros? They just won’t do that. They’re past that.
“With these guys, what makes them special is that they made themselves special. I don’t know, I mean all of us – everyone of you, everyone of them are special people. But as basketball players? They were all that special. But as a team, they made themselves special.”
Indeed. With the gutsy victory witnessed by more than 22,000 fans, Ateneo tied La Salle’s title haul with nine each and put itself back on the throne which it will defend with the return of its potent core.