Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Tab Baldwin has always preached about hardwork to his players and he couldn’t be more delighted with how they have responded to his plea.
It was that same effort which delivered the Blue Eagles the UAAP Season 80 men’s championship, the school’s first title in five years, and the American-Kiwi mentor is proud of how great the group turned out to be.
“This team became special,” he said. “There’s no individual that makes this team special because it just dedicated itself to hard work. With these guys, what makes them special is that they made themselves special. As basketball players, they were all that special. But as a team, they made themselves special.”
READ: Ateneo nabs UAAP title, gets back at La Salle
Though all of the glitter of Ateneo’s championship conquest revolved around the 88-86 Game 3 win on Sunday, Baldwin said that the foundation for its success is all rooted from its preparation with the players’ collective hunger driving them to aspire for greatness.
“I just think about how hard we’ve worked. When we went to camp in Baler, how I crucified these guys, how I put them through the worst things you can imagine — and it’s all to build that esprit de corps there and to build that team,” he said.
“I couldn’t give this guys enough to do and I think that’s a revelation for me — 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 they just responded every step of the way and when we ran into real adversity, none bigger than that tremendous La Salle basketball team, they found a way. And a lot of it is their heart, soul and courage.“
Looking back on how hard the path the Blue Eagles had to tread just to get where they are right now, Baldwin is just happy that all of the sacrifice they made was rewarded with a championship.
“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. They stand there as a team, and they’re standing proud of what they’ve accomplished and they’re standing proud as Ateneans. And I’m very, very proud to be a part of that,” he said.