NOW is not the time for Ateneo to hit the panic button just yet, even after a one-win start to UAAP Season 87.
READ: Blue Eagle, the King again? It's all up to Queen City pride Porter, Bahay
The rebuilding Blue Eagles began its quest to make up for lost ground by holding on to a 70-68 win in their second-round opener over a struggling National University side.
And it was Ateneo’s homegrown rookies Kristian Porter and Jared Bahay who fired 26 combined markers in what they’ll hope to be the second of a few more victories to keep its 11-year Final Four streak alive.
But it’ll take more than just one good game from here on out to turn their season around.
Young blood rising
Ateneo made the Final Four last year by the skin of its teeth over Adamson in a one-game playoff for the No. 4 seed.
They’d then be sent packing by the University of the Philippines which saw seven Blue Eagles bid Katipunan goodbye.
Season 87, therefore, now has multi-titled coach Tab Baldwin manning the charge for a young, rookie-laden team with seven new players.
Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu’s finest stars in Bahay and Porter delivered instant impact even as results eluded them in Round 1.
Bahay normed 9.57 points, 4.86 assists and 3.14 rebounds on 23:25 minutes of play. Porter, meanwhile, posted a seven-game opening statline of 6.57 points, 6.53 rebounds and 0.86 steal in 22:32 minutes.
More than just rookies
For Ateneo’s dynamic duo that rose through the ranks from grade school to the UAAP’s big stage, familiarity will breed success in the long run.
And it all starts by not reducing themselves and their roles to mere rookies, even if pressure proved to be inevitable early in their collegiate careers.
“I'm gonna say yeah, there’s pressure for sure. But like what the coaches said, we can't have a mindset that we're rookies,” Porter told SPIN.ph.
“Each loss is as painful to us as the sophomores and veterans, and each win is as precious to us as it is to them. So what we do with the pressure from the losses and the wins is up to all of us.”
Bahay furthered, “It's not really just about the pressure of having to win games. Pressure is always going to be there, but our mindset is that we'll win each practice and then games and finish strong.”
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