Ravena: Good start is key in Game 2
THE Ateneo Blue Eagles lost the opener of their Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball finals to archrival De La Salle Green Archers, no thanks to a bad start to the game. And it is something they have to address in Game Two tomorrow if they are to extend their campaign, this according to stalwart Thirdy Ravena.
Saw themselves blitzed by La Salle’s pressing defense in the first quarter, the Eagles struggled to get their offensive game going, limited to just six points by the Archers in the opening canto.
While the Eagles did rally back, even taking the lead in the homestretch at one point, their early struggle eventually took its toll on how they finished the match.
“We should have a better start than what we had in Game One. We should do a better job at handling La Salle’s pressing defense because they will continue to employ that. While we were able to come back from a huge deficit, we lost a lot of ground early, which we could have avoided had we handled things better,” said Ravena after their Game One loss.
He went on to say that their slow start in the opener was partly also because of their inability as a group to handle the magnitude of the whole UAAP finals.
“I guess we got intimidated as well at the start. La Salle is a strong team. It’s La Salle vs. Ateneo. Most of us have not been in games big as this so it played a factor. But I’m not making excuses and we have to bounce back next time,” said Ravena, who finished Game Two with eight points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Aaron Black topscored for Ateneo with 12 points while Adrian Wong finished with nine markers.
But Ravena is not completely down on his team, seeing the way they battled back and put themselves in a position to win despite their slow start as one positive they could take cue from for Game Two.
“We fought back even when things did not go our way at the start. That’s the way we have been playing all season long and we have to continue doing that. Not many expected us to reach this far and we just have to give our all,” said Ravena while also highlighting the need for them to have better decision making and taking advantage of every opportunity presented to them.
La Salle and Ateneo are meeting in the UAAP men’s basketball finals for the first time since Season 71 when the Eagles swept the Archers to win the first of what would be five consecutive titles.
Both teams have eight UAAP titles each, tied for fourth place all time, leaving their latest championship encounter a tie breaker.
Game Two of the UAAP Season 79 finals tomorrow is to be played at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.