Ateneo faces a challenge with new system under Alas

Jared Bahay: Polishing the new system. —UAAP MEDIA

Ateneo will have a lot to fight for—and against—when it campaigns in what is expected to be a challenging UAAP Season 89 stint for the Blue Eagles.

Caught in a storm of controversy following the deaths of two of its student-athletes during a training activity in the province, the Blue Eagles will try their best to compete for their fallen teammates in a tournament many believe they should not have been allowed to join.

And to shield itself from all the polarizing discussion, Ateneo is keeping its focus on what it needs to do on the hard court.

“I think right now we just need to polish our system a bit more,” guard Jared Bahay told the Inquirer during the league’s press conference at Novotel on Tuesday.

“It’s a brand new system, and everybody has to learn it in a span of a few months. But everybody’s willing to learn. That makes it easier for us to learn the system.”

Ateneo lost Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili to a fatal drowning accident during a training session in Aurora province. Since then, the Blue Eagles have been hounded by a lot of issues, most notably their participation in this season’s tournament.

In the wake of that tragic incident, longtime champion coach Tab Baldwin was banned from the UAAP and charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide over the drownings.

Opinion was split over whether the team should be suspended for a season in the aftermath of the controversy, but in the end, the UAAP gave the Blue Eagles the go-signal to compete. And the team hopes to use that go-signal as an opportunity to honor its lost players.

With Baldwin fired, coach Louie Alas takes over the squad, which will have to learn a new system that will replace the one it had been running for 10 years under their former coach. “We still have our anxieties. We didn’t play for a long while,” Alas said. “We’re still on the stage of preparing. We’re still inexperienced when it comes to real-time games.” INQ