Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin during the Blue Eagles’ tuneup game against the Bay Area Dragons. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—A few weeks after winning the World University Basketball Series (WUBS) championship in Tokyo, Japan, Ateneo is set to play tune-up games in Tel Aviv, Israel, this week.
The Blue Eagles, unlike several teams in the UAAP and NCAA, did not compete in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup and the PBA D-League, making their Israel trip vital for their Season 85 buildup.
“We only have a couple of games. We are going there to flesh out our system even more. We need more offensive attacks and defensive sophistication,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.
The Blue Eagles will be competing against Ramat HaSharon on Saturday and Elitzur Eito Ashkelon at Zysman Arena on Monday (Manila time). Both teams are Division 2 teams.
One of the main problems, Baldwin said, is not having enough games before UAAP Season 85, to determine his desired rotations with the departure of key players Gian Mamuyac, Tyler Tio, and SJ Belangel among others.
Ateneo has played only four games so far, three in the World University Basketball Series and the other against East Asia Super League club the Bay Area Dragons.
“We don’t have settled rosters and combinations that are used to working together. We have to get better and time is running,” Baldwin said.
Heading into scrimmages, Baldwin said the goal for Ateneo is simply to gain much improvement as it can.
“Just got to get a lot better. We have had such a disruptive buildup in June and July because of injuries. Ange (Kouame) just came back, Dave (Ildefonso) has only been back a couple of weeks. Same with Matthew Daves,” he said.
Ange Kouame and Dave Ildefonso are expected to banner the Blue Eagles, who will also have rookies Kai Ballungay, Sean Quitevis and Joseph Obasa in Season 85.
Baldwin also said Ateneo will ramp up its preparations after their Israel trip.
“When we come back, we expect to play a lot of games.”