In the Blue Eagles’ sixth consecutive finals, Tab Baldwin is set to coach his second do-or-die UAAP championship game after winning against the Aldin Ayo-coached La Salle in Season 80 but losing the decider against the Fighting Maroons after a heartbreaking championship-clinching three by“I’ve been in a few Game 3s. There’s a lot of pressure. [When] you see that UP crowd, that is a lot of pressure. I’m glad I coach Ateneo.
“I don’t think last season has anything to do with this season at all. I’ve already said even though UP team looks almost exactly the same as the UP team from last year, it’s a different team. They do different things. I never liked the concept of defending champion. We don’t think that we are cursed by last season, and we don’t think UP deserves to be champions this season because they were champions last season. They gotta earn it, they know that.
The three-time UAAP champion coach was proud of his team’s effort in Game 2, especially on the defensive end, to live another day. But he insisted that UP coach Goldwin Monteverde will make huge adjustments, especially“We know that that’s an outstanding basketball team. That’s an outstanding coaching staff, they make tremendous adjustments, and we expect that there will be some adjustments. It’s back to the drawing board now, and it’s trying to anticipate.