Ateneo flies to Greece to take training to next level ahead of UAAP

Ateneo will have its work cut out for it when it pushes its preparations for the UAAP a notch higher with a trip to Greece.

After wrapping up the elimination round of the Filoil Preseason Cup on Tuesday, the Blue Eagles travel to Greece on Thursday where they will test their mettle against stiff competition.

“We leave for Greece on Thursday. We’re going to play the Greek under-21 national team twice,” Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said. “To be complemented with that level of games will be tremendous for us. I think there’s gonna be a lot of lessons learned in that game.”

“We have five other games over there against A2 teams which is above second division so they’ll be men’s teams that will be very, very tough games for us.”

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The goal is for the Blue Eagles to become a better team regardless of the outcome of the scrimmages they will play.

Ateneo guard Thirdy Ravena said he’s already looking forward to learning the European style of play.

“The most evident when it comes to European basketball is everything is stripped down the basics,” he said. “Actually, what I want to happen is for our opponents to really blow us out for us to know what it is that we’re still lacking.”

So far, Ateneo has been undefeated in the preseason tournament as it went 9-0 in the elimination round with its latest victory — an 81-75 win over De La Salle in overtime.