ATENEO coach Tab Baldwin personally asked team captain Sean Quitevis to join him in facing the media in the post-game press conference of the Blue Eagles’ gutsy 67-64 ‘road’ win over University of Santo Tomas on Saturday.
Quitevis finished with only two points, three rebounds, three steals and a couple of assists in 23 minutes of action, but made the biggest defensive and offensive plays of the game.
Leading by two and with the Tigers looking to tie, the skipper intercepted Fortshky Padrigao's inbound pass, then converted on the break to give Ateneo a 66-62 lead with 11.7 seconds remaining.
READ: Ateneo gets win run going, while also sending UST to third loss in a row
That defensive stop, and more breathing room eventually ended as the Blue Eagles' first winning streak, stunning the partisan crowd inside Quadricentennial Pavilion.
But that isn't the reason why Baldwin brought him to the post-game tradition usually reserved for the winning team's top performers.
The brilliant American-Kiwi tactician shared how Quitevis exemplifies Ateneo's best trait – that when the going gets tough, in this case a must-win game in UST’s homecourt, they compete and get going.
“I don’t know the last time in the UAAP wherein you had to play a road game. It’s a mystery to us why that happened, but it did, and what it required of us was to really gut it out,” Baldwin said.
“I think this was the gutsiest win that we’ve had in a few years. That’s why I really asked our captain Sean Quitevis to be here in the press conference.”
Like what they’ve been doing all season long, Quitevis shared that he’s just pretty much making the most of the opportunity of ruining the fun for a more favored squad.
“Not a lot of players get the opportunity to play in someone else’s homecourt, so we just want to make sure we have energy, we want to take the fight to them,” he said.
“I’m not too worried about my performance, I’m worried about our team’s performance. Obviously, there are things to improve, but we were just excited to come out and play UST in their home court.”
One Big Fightback
While there certainly remains a lot of things to work on, the Blue Eagles sure do look a whole lot different now than they were in the earlygoing.
Ending the first round with a 1-6 record, they have now won consecutive games - this time, playing better in the clutch against the Tigers as well as their victory vs. National University last weekend.
The young blue-and-white could’ve easily given up after suffering one loss after the other in a testing first half of their campaign, but this is exactly where their captain’s value comes in.
Quitevis rallied his team, let the coaches worry about the tactics, and led by example by competing regardless of the score or their position in the standings.
“Honestly, there have been tactical changes with our team. That really benefited us. It better suited us as a team. Most importantly for us, it’s staying the course, trusting the coaches, and not losing belief in one another and especially in this season,” he said.
“I guess in time of crisis, we chose to stay the course and rough out the waters. We want to fight for our community. The most important thing for us right now is representing the community well,” he added.
“When we say 'One Big Fight,' we mean it.”
That support within the community is so important, especially for a school that has dominated the past decade with four UAAP titles in six finals appearances.
With Katipunan being patient, this rebuilding crew was able to focus on learning from their mistakes, growing from them, and being better after them.
“It’s not really like Ateneo to have a season as tough as this, but we find this challenge as a blessing to learn and grow,” he stated.
“We see the community sticking with us through it, so how can you not fight for them?"
Last flight out
And without a doubt, the Blue Eagles' growth is tangible.
With two wins to start the second round, the semifinals is finally in the sights of the once-dynastic side, as they only sit half a game behind presently fourth-seeded UST (4-6) and stand all even with Adamson and FEU for fifth to seventh-place at 3-6.
Of course, Ateneo still needs a lot of help to get there, but the fact that it’s already attainable after such a forgettable first round still speaks to how much they’ve grown.
Through it all, their skipper admitted that he hasn’t even looked at the leaderboard because he’s already treating every game to be do-or-die – totally zoned in on helping his team get as many wins as they can in the second round.
“I haven’t even looked at the table,” he shared.
“I just look at each game as one game at a time. It feels like the playoffs already. It’s enjoyable to be locked in right now. We look forward to every opponent and hopefully, we can upset some more teams in the future.”
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