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    Tab Baldwin pleased to see more UAAP teams training overseas

    Tab expects better competition in UAAP this season with overseas training of teams
    Sep 28, 2022
    Tab Baldwin Gilas Ateneo
    Tab Baldwin and the Blue Eagles try to regain the top spot after placing second last season.
    PHOTO: Dante Peralta

    ATENEO coach Tab Baldwin anticipates the level of play in the UAAP to increase with more teams training abroad.

    The former Gilas Pilipinas coach said the Blue Eagles playing abroad, as well as University of the Philippines and La Salle getting foreign exposure as part of their build-up for the UAAP will benefit the competition.

    See Tab Baldwin plays down Ateneo win over Korea side LG Sakers

    “I think it’s great. The time that I’ve been here in the Philippines, I’ve seen a real broadening of attitudes towards what we can learn and what we can gain from exposure overseas,” said Baldwin in a recent interview. “Even PBA teams are now playing in the Super League. I think all of this is extremely healthy for basketball. The fans love it. It gives them a different perspective.”

    The Maroons, in preparation for their title defense, trained in Korea. Aside from competing in the PBA D-League which they won, the Archers went to Japan to continue its build-up.

    Season 85 opens on Saturday.

    Ateneo has traditionally been preparing overseas for decades even before Baldwin came to the Blue Eagles. For this preseason, the Blue Eagles went to Japan for the World University Basketball Series, and also competed in a series of games in Israel.

    Tab Baldwin

    Baldwin hopes that more schools can train overseas but also recognizes that financial considerations come into play.

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    “It’s really good for the players. But at the end of the day, it is our Philippine competitions that we have to give our heart and soul to. So you know, I think it’s really good for La Salle and UP, and I wish other UAAP teams could have that opportunity. I was talking to coach Nash about Adamson and he said they just didn’t have the resources and I feel sorry for them in that regard because it’s such a healthy experience, both culturally for college kids to go visit other countries, but also basketball-wise to experience different styles of play,” said Baldwin.

    “So I think it’s good for them. It’ll make them better teams and make them stronger teams. As much I want our team to be successful and win the championship, I want to help the basketball landscape as much as I want. The UAAP is getting stronger and stronger, and healthier and healthier,” Baldwin said.

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      Overall, however, the preparation time which was lacking when the UAAP was forced to compress its schedule due to the pandemic will be beneficial to all.

      Just a few months after the Season 84 finals, the UAAP will open in October but will see its playdates slowly getting back to the usual schedule pre-pandemic. Quadruple headers will only be held every Wednesdays, with doubleheaders set Saturdays and Sundays.

      Baldwin said the absence of a quality preparation took its toll for the Blue Eagles in the finals series against the Fighting Maroons.

      “Hopefully, we could be a little bit better prepared for each game,” Baldwin said. “The hard thing in the last season was you literally had no preparation practices. You were either in recovery day from the game, maybe you got some shots up, maybe you ran through some stuff, or you are in a scouting report day before a game. So you didn’t get any real quality practice time to go hard and work on things you needed to work on.”

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      “I think obviously, what UP did, they handled it better. Because they got better as the season went on, and I felt we didn’t. That was a good job by their staff and not a good job by me and our staff,” said Baldwin, whose team also ended a 29-game winning streak with a loss to UP at the close of the eliminations last May 1.

      “But I think this season, we will get more time to be better prepare for each game. The next year, of course, they will get a real UAAP year where we have a whole year to build-up and that’s where I think our coaching staff excels with the more preparation time we have,” he added.

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      Tab Baldwin and the Blue Eagles try to regain the top spot after placing second last season.
      PHOTO: Dante Peralta
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