JARED Bahay is already on his way to becoming the next in the long line of great Ateneo point guards.
But coach Tab Baldwin, like he has done for this current group of Blue Eagles, preached patience on the development of the Cebuano guard.
Though there’s no question on the capabilities of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu product, the American-Kiwi mentor reiterated that it’s a grueling journey so far for Bahay especially that he really doesn’t have a senior playmaker he can depend on for guidance.
“It’s tough for a young player to have that responsibility put on him at such an early stage. Forthsky [Padrigao] went through it, SJ Belangel went through it, Matt Nieto went through it, but none of them were featured freshman players. They had each other to learn from, and Jared doesn’t have that,” he said.
When Padrigao was a rookie back in 2021, he had the luxury of playing behind Belangel, BJ Andrade, Tyler Tio. Belangel, for his part, had Nieto, Gian Mamuyac, and Anton Asistio on his side when he was a neophyte in 2018. And Nieto was lucky to be a Kiefer Ravena understudy in his first year back in 2015.
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Compare that to Bahay now, who shares the backcourt with sophomores Ian Espinosa and Kyle Gamber, and Baldwin’s assessment is very much understandable.
“[Jared’s] having to kind of go into the kitchen where it’s hottest and try and learn,” Baldwin said, emphasizing the hype that surrounds Bahay who came in as the top-ranked high school player by the NBTC in the last two seasons.
As much of a baptism of fire as it is for the 5-foot-9 court general, Bahay has also done a good job in evolving throughout the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.
Take into account his performance on Saturday in his second Ateneo-La Salle duel where he put up a season-best 22-point mark to go with his four assists and two rebounds in an 80-65 defeat.
“You’re seeing more and more of the player that Jared Bahay is,” praised Baldwin.
“Obviously he’s going to develop, he’s going to improve. He’s fitter than he was in the preseason.”
What changed, however, is Bahay’s comfort in taking this lead role for the Blue Eagles.
“He’s actually settling into this level of competition more than it is anything in terms of improvement. And I wouldn’t say yet he’s becoming a better decision-maker, I just think he’s getting more comfortable at this level of competition and he’s showing what he’s capable of in the offensive end,” Baldwin remarked.
For the Ateneo coach, as good of a sign as these high scoring games are, what Katipunan needs from Bahay is to become more of a leader – a true point guard rather than just another points guard.
“He’s playing better, but we need a great point guard out of him and not just a good scorer in the point guard position,” said Baldwin of Bahay, who leads the team with averages of 10.9 points and 4.4 assists.
“We need better leadership, we need better defense, and we need him to be a guy that leads his team rather than tries to carry his team because there are times where he’s trying to make the tough play and he shouldn’t be,” he added.
“I know he’s a tough kid, and I’m close to him. I really believe in him and I know he can take criticism, but that’s where he’s going to grow and evolve as a basketball player.”
Baldwin ended: “He’s going to be much better at becoming the type of guard that extracts better basketball from his whole team, not just from himself.”
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