UAAP: No letdown, just poor execution in Ateneo loss, says Baldwin
UAAP SCHEDULE: Season 88 basketball tournament
Ateneo Blue Eagles coach Tab Baldwin during a game against UP Fighting Maroons in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin found no excuses for his team’s collapse in the 83-69 loss to University of the Philippines in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday.
The Blue Eagles saw their four-game winning streak snapped with Baldwin saying his team couldn’t execute a way to stop a well-prepared Fighting Maroons side.
READ: UAAP: UP ends Ateneo’s unbeaten run, extends win streak to three
“There wasn’t a letdown, just a lack of execution of the game plan,” he said at Mall of Asia. “I went into the dugout at half time and I was wondering, did they really prepare well for us?”
After holding a slim cushion at the half, 40-38, UP took advantage of Ateneo’s problems in the second half with Harold Alarcon in the driver’s seat.
UP FIghting Maroons’ Harold Alarcon during a game against Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
“I think Harold just got on a run and those coaches rode that a little bit. We didn’t answer the call. The adjustments we made weren’t effective and you saw a really good UP team in the second half,” Baldwin said.
Alarcon ended up with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds to break the Blue Eagles’ four-game win streak.
Ateneo allowed UP to score 24 points in the third quarter, which proved to be the runaway for the Fighting Maroons.
The same pattern happened in the Blue Eagles’ close 81-74 win over La Salle.
After leading by as much as 31 points, Ateneo gave up 36 fourth-quarter points to the Green Archers and nearly blew the game.
Ateneo survived that second-half meltdown, but wasn’t able to pull off the same feat against UP.
“I don’t think it’s a letdown on our part. It was just UP elevating their game while we were still lacking composure without discipline,” Baldwin said.
The Blue Eagles look to reclaim their winning ways on Saturday when they take on University of Santo Tomas in their own backyard at Loyola Heights.
