THE Ateneo Blue Eagles might be the latest team to lift the UAAP men's basketball crown back in Season 85, but multi-titled mentor Tab Baldwin doesn't necessarily see his current squad as 'defending champions.'
With the likes of former UAAP MVP Ange Kouame and Forthsky Padrigao no longer in the team, Baldwin braces himself for a bigger challenge with a youth-laden crew in their forthcoming title defense.
READ: UAAP Season 86 to begin Sept. 30 with men's basketball tilt
“We don’t consider ourselves defending champions. That was last year’s team. This is a new team, so this team is not champion of anything," Baldwin bared in an ambush interview during the UAAP Season 86 press launch on Wednesday.
"We’re practicing since January and we practice hard and that’s the nature of our preparation — trying to get these guys as much preparation as quickly as possible," he added.
From previous title-contending rosters loaded by experienced aces, the four-time UAAP champion coach will bank on squad growth more than anything for this season.
"I think this is a team that will probably be characterized more by growth than by experience. They're a team that I hope is a high-quality basketball team by the second round and is able to compete in the higher levels of the league. But first we've gotta grow and we've got to develop as we've got a lot of young players," the Ateneo mentor said.
Among Ateneo's eligible ace rookies for Season 86 are blue-chip recruits Kobe Demisana, Kyle Gamber, Andre Miguel Tan, Raffy Celis, and Michael Asoro.
And when all coaches were asked to select the prospective champion side for Season 86, Baldwin underscored the unpredictability of the eight-team field and stressed his utmost respect for his coaching colleagues.
"There will be surprises as there are every year. I think probably a lot of people were surprised that Adamson got into the Final Four last year but by the end of the season, nobody was surprised. They were that good. NU was the same, they were that good. Whether people respected them at the beginning of the season or not, that's exactly why we play the season," Baldwin said.
"I just prefer to pass on (picking an eventual champion team) because I'm not gonna disrespect any of these coaches up here and the work that they do. We go on the court to sort it out," he added.
Ateneo's title-retention bid begins in the season opener on Sep. 30 against the NU Bulldogs, 4 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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