Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin. Photo from UAAP Images.

MANILA — Ateneo de Manila University head coach Tab Baldwin absorbed his worst loss ever in the UAAP on Wednesday.

This, after University of the Philippines walloped his Blue Eagles, 74-57, at the Mall of Asia Arena -- a 28-point beatdown that sent them to 3-8 in the league standings.

READ: UP dismantles Ateneo, hands Baldwin his worst loss in the UAAP

"We showed our immaturity and our inexperience, and obviously, things went really south from there," said Baldwin on what went wrong for them in the game against the powerhouse that is UP. 

Ateneo had a promising start to the game and were still within striking distance at the halftime break, 39-28. But they gave up a 15-0 run to the Fighting Maroons to start the third quarter and found themselves staring at a 30-point deficit.

This, according to Baldwin, happened due to his young Eagles not being able to withstand the might that the Maroons imposed on them, especially in the third period. 

"You have to be confrontational, you have to be far more defiant, and that would be reflected in playing good basketball. Instead, we went the other way," said the UAAP champion mentor. 

"We have to look at ourselves and understand that when your toughness is questioned, you can't fold your tents up and just hope that the other team just plays bad basketball."

"UP is a team that everybody should aspire to have the mentality and attitude that they have. It's not personal for them, and I really like that about their team. They just have a mentality to go out and dominate, and we gave them the opportunity to dominate us," he continued.

These reflected in the stats sheet as aside from having no Atenean score more than nine points, the Blue Eagles were also limited to only shooting 26.9% from the field (18/67 FG), and outrebounded (51-42).

And while these eventually resulted in Baldwin dealing with his worst defeat in the UAAP since he took over Ateneo's basketball program in 2016, he said that it should instead be treated as one from which they can get a lot of lessons. 

"It's irrelevant," he said when he was made aware of the fact. "It's a very disappointing loss, a loss that you gotta put behind you and move forward but to have a bad game is not as dire of a circumstance as some people would like to make out to be. We are a team that can react to a very bad game, but that's the challenge."

For Baldwin, what his players must take from the loss are the pointers that they can use as challenges, with still three games left in their list of Season 87 assignments. 

"They have a choice now. They can work their tails off to finish the season on a very positive note, or they can tuck their tails and be defeated. That's not in our nature, so hopefully, we have the character to step up to adversity and toughness," he said, while also pointing out one factor that his men should do moving forward.

"We haven't been the assertive team," said Baldwin. "Couple of games in the second round, we've been assertive, so we need to get back on that mentality of believing in ourselves and playing more assertive basketball. "

"So it's up to the players. All of them need to have a hard look at themselves, and they have to look at how they respond to this tough adverse game. They have to make the commitment that if nothing else, stand your ground," he added.

The former Gilas Pilipinas mentor, however, emphasized that these are not only lessons for his players until the end of the season. They way that the team will respond will and must also affect them as individuals and as a group in general for years to come.

"[Our performance] doesn't mean that there aren't pieces, there aren't talents that are gonna be key personnel in the future, but everyday now is a test of their character, of their resolve, to bring this program back to where it belongs with no guarantees if we are gonna achieve anything this year," he insisted.

"They still have to fight every day in practice, and in every game, to bring as much honor and as much pride to that uniform as they are expected to. We're all under the gun, and we all have to feel that there's a knife in our throats. The only way to take that pressure off is to be successful in everything that we do.

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