Baldwin lavishes praise on Racela, FEU Tamaraws

They

engaged in a heated battle for 85 minutes, but when it was all said and done, there was nothing but respect between Ateneo de Manila University coach Tab Baldwin and his Far Eastern University (FEU) counterpart, Nash Racel a.

Racela and the defending champion Tamaraws were victorious in the first game of their UAAP Season 79 Final 4 series, winning 62-61 to set up a do-ordie game for the last berth in the Finals.

In Game 2, it was Baldwin and the Blue Eagles who wound up on top after a back-andforth battle that went into overtime. Ateneo seized a 69-68 win to set up a championship showdown with arch-rivals La Salle.

"My heart goes out to Coach Nash," said Baldwin, who worked closely with Racela win the national team program. "What an outstanding job, and what an outstanding coach he i s."

"Forget the job that he did today and throughout the series," he added. "The guy is a class person, and he is an outstanding coach. Anybody that says anything different, they should shut their mouth real fast."

Baldwin praised the game plan that Racela put together, admitting that despite their adjustments following their Game 1 loss, it was still very difficult to score against the tough FEU squad.

"Tremendous opponent," Baldwin said of the Tamaraws. "They were every bit as good as we were. I don't think anybody deserved to lose today."

Outgoing FEU coach Nash Racela. Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports

The respect between the coaches is mutual. Racela, whose coaching stint in FEU came to an end with Wednesday's loss, said everyone involved in their series – including him and Baldwin – can only get better after such a wellcontested battle.

"I know how great a coach he (Baldwin) is," said Racela. "That's why from our end, the only thing to counter that is work, study, and learn."

"We were not really focusing on the coaching duel. Sa amin, it's more about how we represented the school. Alam ko, after this, we all come out better – ako, siya, the coaching staff, and the players," he added.

Racela now moves on to become the head coach of the TNT KaTropa in the PBA, while Baldwin will prepare the Blue Eagles for another difficult war against the Green Archers in the best-of-three Finals.