Goldwin Monteverde and Tab Baldwin tipped their hats off to each other as they wrapped up another chapter of the UP-Ateneo rivalry for UAAP Season 87.
Since 2022, UP’s Goldwin Monteverde and Ateneo’s Tab Baldwin have been at the forefront of the “Battle of Katipunan” as the head coaches steering two powerhouse programs in the quest for UAAP dominance.
UP and Ateneo’s matchups under these coaches have proven to be highly competitive, with both teams going back and forth in fiery clashes that have garnered sellout crowds. Monteverde won his first UAAP title at the expense of Baldwin’s Ateneo in Season 84, before the Eagles got even in Season 85 to win their fourth men’s basketball title under the Kiwi mentor.
And while things may be a little different now in Katipunan, Monteverde made sure to give his flowers to Baldwin as the counterpart who has imparted a treasure trove of lessons for him. While UP is undoubtedly the deeper squad, these Eagles can still catch their opponents off guard on any given day.
“For me, syempre, I would really learn a lot. We know the program that Coach Tab does for Ateneo, we cannot approach the game relaxed and we really need to prepare for it,” said Monteverde after UP’s win over Ateneo on Wednesday.
The Fighting Maroons on Wednesday completed their season sweep over Ateneo, which is Monteverde’s first sweep over Baldwin since debuting in Season 84. With a 75-47 victory, they also dealt Baldwin his worst loss in the UAAP.
Perhaps, this very respect contributed to the Maroons’ winning cause. After all, Baldwin’s tactical brilliance can and will always give his team a fighting chance even as they undergo growing pains.
“During the course of the game, things will just fall into place [for Ateneo]. You should be able to react. The coach that he is, I really admire him as a coach. The way he runs his program at Ateneo and definitely competing against him, I really learned a lot,” Monteverde said.
UP improved to 9-1 record following the blowout win, and are now aiming to secure a twice-to-beat in the Final Four. While complacency might be an issue, Monteverde assured that they will try to adjust as needed in their last four games.
Still on UP’s schedule are Final Four hopefuls UE and Adamson, upstart FEU, and defending champs La Salle.
“Expect na we would work harder, to improve as a team. And dahan-dahan pa…Each game would be a stepping stone for us to get better. Importante lang, we should be healthy as a team din, in a way. And slowly, slowly, we will still improve,” said the champion mentor.
UP as the standard for Coach Tab
For his part, Baldwin acknowledged how Monteverde’s UP has become the standard to emulate. Despite Ateneo’s good start, the longtime mentor lauded how the Maroons were quick to respond accordingly.
The Eagles held a 10-4 advantage after the first six minutes of play, only to end the first quarter trailing 15-17 against UP.
“All of a sudden we’re down 17-15 and I think we showed our immaturity, our inexperience. And obviously, things went really south from there…And UP is a team that I think everybody should aspire to have the mentality and attitude that the team has. 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 so they did,” said Baldwin.
“And so, we have to look at ourselves and we have to understand that when your toughness is questioned, you can’t fold your tents up and just hope that the other team plays bad basketball…You have to be far more confrontational, you have to be far more defiant in your attitude and that will be reflected in playing better basketball.”
Baldwin refused to dwell on the significance of the 28-point loss on his UAAP career. At this point, all that matters is for them to finish strong as they enter the final three games of eliminations.
“We should be the kind of team and players that react positively to that and confront those demons and then come out and become a better team, a better group of people because of the adversity you face,” the former Gilas mentor explained.
This loss should be a wake-up call for the Eagles to play with a “more assertive” mentality. After all, Baldwin knows how good his team can be when doing so especially throughout Round 2.
But against UP, the champion coach observed how his wards were overwhelmed by the Maroons’ own toughness, which led to a tentative style of play. Consequently, this deflated morale led to them missing open shots throughout Wednesday’s contest.
“I won’t say the guys didn’t try hard tonight, you know, but they were just overwhelmed by a team whose entire culture and mentality is about toughness and dominance and we didn’t measure up to that. It’s a great lesson for us and we talked about it. We actually talked about them before the game, and it’s something that we should aspire to be,” he reiterated.
“And, you know, UP will obviously try to continue that as a culture in ensuing years, but they’ve got some pretty big pieces that really establish that mentality that they’ll have to replace and we can develop those pieces by learning lessons and so, you know, this is the ebb and flow of programs as you go through your golden eras and then, you know, your more challenging eras.”
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.