Thirdy Ravena, dominant Blue Eagles want no letup

Photo from UAAP

ANTIPOLO CITY—So far, Ateneo has remained spotless in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament through 12 games.

The Blue Eagles are also winning in dominant fashion with an average margin of 13.9 points. That kind of dominance, however, lead to complacency though, Thirdy Ravena is confident the team won’t lose its focus especially with how Tab Baldwin and his coaching staff making sure the Blue Eagles are on track.

“The more we win, the more pressure and the more consistency will be in place for our team,” said Ravena after the Blue Eagles notched a 12-0 record after an 84-50 thrashing of University of the Philippines Sunday at Ynares Center here.

“When we win, coach Tab and the other coaches are harder on us during practice because they’re really trying to beat the complacency out of us. We shouldn’t think that even though we’re 12-0 and we’re locked in the Final 4 then we’ll relax,” added Ravena in Filipino.

Such a thing happened in Ateneo’s previous game against FEU when the Blue Eagles trailed for three quarters, the first time it happened the whole season, before coming away with the 65-55 win.

“Once we slack off, we expose ourselves to other teams who’ll think ‘oh we can take on Ateneo if we catch them off guard or hit them when they’re vulnerable,’” said Ravena, who had 11 points and seven rebounds against the Red Warriors. “For us, preparation is the key.”

“We really want to make sure that we’re not complacent, and that starts in practice.”

Ateneo made sure that what happened against the Tamaraws won’t happen again as the Blue Eagles only allowed the Warriors only got to taste the lead for a brief moment at 4-0.

But it didn’t take long for the Blue Eagles to counter as they responded with a 17-2 run capped by  an Isaac Go 3-pointer late in the first.

Ateneo never relinquished its lead and looked dominant as ever while UE kissed its Final Four hopes goodbye with a 3-9 slate.