Blue Eagles seek consistency amid roller-coaster UAAP start

MANILA, Philippines -- The Ateneo Blue Eagles are aiming for consistency in their play after the defending champions were stunned by previously winless FEU Tamaraws in their UAAP Season 86 matchup on Saturday.

Ateneo came storming back from being down 15 and took the game to overtime, but they ultimately ran out of gas for a 66-61 defeat.

The Blue Eagles are currently 2-3 in the standings, good for sixth of eight teams.

In an interview after the game, assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga acknowledged that the season has been literally “up-and-down” for the Blue Eagles.

“We’d like to learn from our mistakes and be able to correct them right away. We want to be able to grow in each game,” Arespacochaga told reporters.

“Coach Tab said in the dugout that we have to also tell the players to remove ourselves from this particular game and try to look at things in its entirety, for us to be able to improve. We’re hoping that we see more results not just in wins, but in the consistency in our play,” he added.

The Blue Eagles looked lost in offense at the end of the third quarter and at the start of the fourth.

But they found their groove toward the end of regulation, as they unleashed an 18-3 blitz to tie a once 52-37 lead.

Arespacochaga said that the challenge for the team is to play consistently like how they did when they were down 15.

“For us to be able to play that way in the fourth down 15, we’d like to play that way consistently. And that’s the challenge that is in front of us,” he reiterated.

The coach also had a somewhat murky response when asked if the defending champions are already about to press the panic button.

But the team is definitely eyeing to bounce back stronger from tough defeats.

“We’d like to approach this in two ways. One is analytically. That’s what we told our players, analyze also the things we did wrong And, try to learn from them and the things that we’re doing right, we want to keep on improving, get better at it,” he said.

“But also, maybe emotionally because this is an emotional game too. And we feel the loss. Sometimes, it’s actually good to feel the loss. And that’s the reality of sports, right? There’s a winner, and there’s a loser,