OVER the past seven years at the helm, Tab Baldwin has led the Ateneo Blue Eagles to four UAAP men's basketball championships.
Holding the belief that no two teams or two seasons will exactly be the same, Baldwin acknowledges the striking differences with the squad makeup and his general approach in managing the Blue Eagles of Season 86.
READ: Kai Ballungay says Ateneo needs to 'grow up fast'
They may be the defending champions, but Baldwin underscored how this youthful Ateneo side offers a whole new package than in previous years without his usual aces Ange Kouame, Dave Ildefonso, and BJ Andrade on deck.
"I don’t wanna overstate (this current team’s challenges). It’s different certainly than past teams. We had a lot more continuity of personnel, and even that continuity of personnel was generally players who have been with us for a few seasons and were stepping up into more significant roles," said Baldwin.
"This year, it’s just sort of new faces everywhere you look. That does present it’s own challenges. But if I sit here and make excuses, that’s not gonna be the way because I really believe in the talent that we recruited," he stressed.
And with any new team comes the time-intensive challenges of building chemistry and establishing a winning culture, which Baldwin is certainly up for.
"Culture and chemistry take time. I’d like to think that we’d get there but there’s a significant amount of management as opposed to coaching this year. Certainly, there’s a lot of coaching going on but there’s a lot more management," the multi-titled mentor said.
"There’s some pain there for the coaches and for the players but anything that’s worthwhile in the end takes some hard work to get there. It’s a fact of life for us, but certainly not an excuse," he added.
The young Blue Eagles may not have ticked all the boxes in Baldwin's book just yet, but the veteran tactician believes that progress has definitely been made halfway through the opening round.
"The adaptability of this team to each opponent is a little bit limited right now because of the lack of experience [...] You’ve got to be very disciplined in all areas of the game and I think that’s an area of concern for us," Baldwin shared.
"But in some areas, I think there’s progress. I think progress will be found primarily in the execution of the game plan and we have a long way to go in that."
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