UP looks to learn quick lessons as Game 3 against Ateneo looms
FOR the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, there’s certainly no time to sulk after their heartbreaking 66-69 loss to the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles in Game Two of the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball finals.
Not with the winner-take-all Game Three looming on May 13 at 6 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
And if the Fighting Maroons are to successfully dethrone the mighty Blue Eagles, one thing is clear—they have to learn from their many mishaps in Game Two, especially down the stretch when the game hangs in the balance.
“We need to be more composed,” said UP’s rising Cebuano star, Carl Tamayo.
“It’s a good learning experience for us. The last time we might have rushed the game at the start,” said the 21-year old, Talisay City native.
UP head coach Goldwyn Monteverde also lamented his team’s slow start and their lack of ball security which resulted in them facing a 15-point deficit in the second period.
“We needed to be more responsible with the ball and avoid turnovers,” said UP’s first-year head coach.
Despite the quick turnaround, Monteverde said his team has to put Game Two in the rearview mirror, improve on their mistakes, and focus on the task at hand.
“Our biggest takeaway is that every after games we take our mistakes and we learn from them.”
On the other side of the fence, Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin was glad his team responded to the challenge.
“I think the loss in Game One in a way is a blessing. It’s a blessing because we fail in life. It happens to everybody. I think that our team—our players, our coaches—we looked at that as an opportunity to grow,” the Kiwi-American basketball tactician said.
“We looked at that as a situation in which we had to acknowledge we weren’t good enough and we had to acknowledge the changes were required mentally, physically, in all of us. We made those changes and really it’s just enough for us to survive,” added Baldwin.