Push Admin

UAAP: Ateneo's latest title came 'against all odds,' says Baldwin

Article (news)

Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin celebrates with his players after winning the UAAP Season 85 championship. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/12/20/20221219-uaap85-finals-game3-1md_3877-md.jpg"/><figcaption>Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin celebrates with his players after winning the UAAP Season 85 championship. <em>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- Before the start of the UAAP Season 85 men&#x27;s basketball tournament, Tab Baldwin had been his usual honest self when he assessed the chances of his team.</p><p>Baldwin considered Ateneo de Manila University a tier below the University of the Philippines (UP) and De La Salle University, and branded his squad as &quot;underdogs&quot; compared to the two powerhouses. His assessment made sense: UP was the defending champions, having dethroned Ateneo in a classic three-game series in Season 84. La Salle featured a stacked roster and had ruled the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup.</p><p>Ateneo, meanwhile, entered the season with an unproven roster anchored by Ange Kouame, who was far from 100% due to a knee injury. They had a handful of new players, and no longer had veterans such as SJ Belangel and Tyler Tio to rely on.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/28/22/baldwin-feels-ateneo-will-be-underdogs-vs-la-salle-up">READ: Baldwin feels Ateneo will be underdogs vs. La Salle, UP</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/17/22/awful-lot-of-work-to-do-for-ateneo-says-baldwin">READ: &#x27;Awful lot of work to do&#x27; for Ateneo, says Baldwin</a></li></ul><p>Some three months later, the Blue Eagles have blown past every expectation placed on them from both inside and outside the organization. They ended the elimination round as the No. 1 seed, crushed Adamson University in the Final 4, and got back at the Fighting Maroons in the finals. </p><p>A 75-68 win in Game 3 -- where they held off UP after seeing a 20-point lead dwindle down to three -- ensured Ateneo&#x27;s return to the top of the league. This is their fourth title in the past five seasons, and 12th overall in the UAAP. Baldwin has steered Ateneo to the championship in four of his six seasons in charge.</p><p>This latest one, he said, feels a little different than the others. Previous iterations of Ateneo title teams had been favorites every time they entered the UAAP season; the Season 85 version of the Blue Eagles went against the grain.</p><p>&quot;A lot of people doubted these guys, and I think there were times when it was kind of easy to doubt them. Yeah, but you know, there were a lot of things that happened this year that kind of flew below the radar with this team,&quot; Baldwin said in the hours after their triumph. </p><p>&quot;It really made the championship one that was against all odds, I guess you&#x27;d say.&quot;</p><p>Even though they finished the elimination round as the top seed, Baldwin still believed that his Blue Eagles had the &quot;DNA of underdogs&quot; against UP in their finals rematch. Indeed, they dropped Game 1 of the series, 72-66, and appeared to have few answers for the Fighting Maroons&#x27; defensive pressure.</p><p>But they turned things around in Game 2, with Kouame putting on an MVP-performance. The naturalized Filipino center was sensational in the finals, comprehensively out-playing his UP counterpart in Malick Diouf and doing his part to neutralize Gilas Pilipinas teammate Carl Tamayo.</p><p>Still, the gutsy Maroons very nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages, as a reverse four-point play by Harold Alarcon made it a three-point game with still 20 seconds left in Game 3. Only four cold-blooded free throws by BJ Andrade ensured that Ateneo would bring the crown back to Loyola Heights. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/19/22/ateneo-holds-off-up-to-regain-uaap-mens-basketball-crown">READ: Ateneo holds off UP to regain UAAP men&#x27;s basketball crown</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/19/22/uaap-kouame-concludes-glittering-career-with-finals-mvp">READ: Kouame concludes glittering career with Finals MVP</a></li></ul><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Baldwin is lifted by his players after they won Game 3 of the UAAP Season 85 Finals against UP. UAAP Media." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/12/20/tab-baldwin.jpg"/><figcaption>Baldwin is lifted by his players after they won Game 3 of the UAAP Season 85 Finals against UP. <em>UAAP Media.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;When you&#x27;ve got defending champions with pretty much an intact roster, they&#x27;re hard to knock off. And I think today&#x27;s game was a classic example of like a heavyweight fight,&quot; said Baldwin. </p><p>&quot;We didn&#x27;t get any favors out there today. And you&#x27;ve got to knock out the champion. I think, you know, that first half was close to a knockout punch, but with UP, it&#x27;s not. They fight back. And they came perilously close,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;But the character of these guys, they hung in there.&quot;</p><p>As he looked back on their campaign, Baldwin acknowledged that he personally had no expectations of his own team. He had been consistent in his messaging: the coach stressed, repeatedly, that they had a lot of work to do in order to be competitive. </p><p>&quot;If you had asked me at the beginning of the season, I probably would have said [that] I don&#x27;t wanna have expectations. Because, I would probably be afraid I would be let down,&quot; he admitted.</p><p>But after getting a victorious lift from his players and being doused with water during his post-game interview, Baldwin had one overriding emotion: pride. </p><p>&quot;More than happiness, more than celebratory feelings … I&#x27;m just proud. I&#x27;m so proud,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Obviously it&#x27;s very welcome to be back on top. I don&#x27;t want to say it was a surprise, but I think this team had to work harder than the previous versions of Blue Eagle champions,&quot; Baldwin also said. &quot;And boy, I love to say that -- Blue Eagle champions.&quot;</p><div><strong>UAAP Season 85 is streaming on iWantTFC every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, available for Premium users outside the Philippines.</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2387249" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Before the start of UAAP Season 85, Tab Baldwin had been his usual honest self when he assessed the chances of his team.

UAAP: Ateneo's latest title came 'against all odds,' says Baldwin

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Sports

UAAP: Ateneo's latest title came 'against all odds,' says Baldwin

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 20, 2022 01:08 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

UAAP

UAAP Season 85

UAAP basketball

Ateneo Blue Eagles

Tab Baldwin

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.