Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin during a UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball game against Adamson Falcons. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin and Adamson coach Nash Racela had some of the most intense battles in UAAP Season 86.
So in their first showdown in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, it was just right that both squads had to go through the wringer to determine a winner.
Ateneo outlasted Adamson, 60-51, in what could be widely considered another chess match added to both tacticians’ caps.
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 87 basketball
“It was a defensive match and it was always going to be with me and coach Nash. We’re defensive-oriented coaches. He’s got a veteran team and if you look at the stats for the whole league, he’s got the best defensive team in the league,” said Baldwin with Inquirer Sports.
“We’re near the top [of defense], considering the caliber of schedule we’ve had so far we’ve done pretty well so it didn’t surprise me that it was a low-scoring game with a lot of tactics at play.”
READ: UAAP: Nash Racela surprised after ‘good friend’ Tab Baldwin’s statement
In an intense showdown between two teams looking for a steady start to the season, defense reigned supreme as only one player in each camp scored in double digits.
Adamson Falcons’ coach Nash Racela during a UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
For the Blue Eagles, Shawn Tuano finished with 11 points. For the Soaring Falcons, veteran big man Cedrick Manzano led the team with 14 points and seven rebounds but to no avail.
In the ending which saw the Blue Eagles finally land in the win column with a 1-3 card, Baldwin gave nothing but respect to Racela.
READ: Tensions flare between Tab Baldwin, Nash Racela in UAAP
And if people are wondering whether both mentors are still holding on to the heated rivalry of yesteryear, the Ateneo tactician set the record straight about his good friend.
“I don’t think so,” said Baldwin when asked if last season’s rivalry with Adamson motivated Ateneo.
“Nash and I are good friends. What happened last year was just two competitors competing and not two friends.”
“Soon as we walk off the court and see each other, we kind of just laugh about it. We’re good friends.”