Baldwin preaches patience as Ateneo off to 0-3 start

MANILA, Philippines — Patience is a virtue.That is an adage the Ateneo Blue Eagles need to live by after starting the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament with a 0-3 slate.The latest of that losing record came on Sunday at the hands of Ateneo rival in defending champ De La Salle, 61-74, at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday."You have to be patient with the process," said Blue Eagles coach Tab Baldwin after Ateneo got sent to its worst start in the last 10 seasons."You invest too much time into something you know will pay dividends and just don't know when it will pay dividends."Shawn Tuano proved to be a bright spot in Ateneo's defeat as he pumped 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists.Baldwin said Tuano's going to get better with experience but hopes that the other guys step up offensively as well to take some of the opposition's defense on prized rookie point guard Jared Bahay."I'd like to see what he [Tuano] is doing, but we want to see it consistently. We want to see Josh Lazaro repeat what he did in the last game. We want to see Drew Bongo get going because these guys have offensive capabilities. And until these guys start being consistent, it's going to be tough on Jared because the defenses are going to focus on him because they know his skill set," shared Baldwin."And until other players get the defensive attention off of Jared to some degree, it's going to cause problems for the entirety of our offense. But, you know, I have confidence in him. Josh has had a good game. Tonight, Sean had a good game. Port showed a little bit in the last game and a little bit tonight. So, step by step, they're finding their way."Bad as their start is, Baldwin said the Blue Eagles now have to look forward to their game on September 21 against the Adamson Soaring Falcons who defeated UST, 69-56, on Sunday for a 2-1 slate."We just got to get the win-loss record on the rails now. It was a pretty brutal start to the season, the schedule we had, but that's the way it is. You've got to play them sometime," said Baldwin."It just doesn't look very good right now, it's awful at 0-3, but you know we just believe that now we've got that stretch of the schedule out of the way we've got a week to prepare for Adamson, so we have to do a really good job because Adamson showed off what they're capable of today."Baldwin said a potential much-needed help is on the way as senior guard Chris Koon will return to action after suffering a left ankle injury in Ateneo's season-opening game against UP."I think the biggest change we'll see this week is we should get Chris back. Hopefully earlier in the week rather than later. He's still got some soreness, but he's responded well. He's got stability in the ankle. that extra body, that extra veteran minutes will pay dividends for us."