Basketball has long abided by tried and tested recipes for success, turning age-old techniques into classic court fundamentals that are inseparable from the game itself. While the evolution of the sport has produced new ideas such as the advent of small ball and the focus on efficiency, one of the most undervalued factors in winning basketball games is continuity.
Described as the similarity of a team’s roster compared to the previous season, continuity refers to the players, coaches, and management that carry over into the succeeding season, with low roster turnover equating to a high level of continuity. In many professional leagues, however, this factor is often made obsolete by the constant search for new players to improve teams, thus neglecting the team-building value of chemistry.
Roster continuity is atypical in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), since players are only allowed a maximum of five playing years. This is especially true for the Blue and Lady Eagles.
This year, however, the Ateneo Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams both have a very high retention rate. The Blue Eagles are only losing two rotation players in Gboy Babilonia and the injured Adrian Wong, while their Lady counterparts only deal with Akiko Tomita’s departure.
Although a similar crop of athletes from last year’s campaign is entering the fray this season, different ambitions characterize their game. The question remains whether old hands can help the team break new ground in Season 80.
Fostering camaraderie
Continuity is a difficult value to quantify because it deals with intangibles such as chemistry, familiarity, and competitive spirit. While these aspects do not directly equate to more wins on the court, they certainly provide the foundation for a winning pedigree.
Binky Uy De Ong, captain of the women’s team, recognizes how continuity is changing them. “We know each other so well now off the court, and we try to bring that on the court too. In training, we’re becoming very vocal with one another,” she says.
Although having the chance to build chemistry over time is a great way for a team to come together, Men’s Basketball team Coach Tab Baldwin warns of the potential dangers of falling into a comfort zone. “The negative [aspect] that comes with it is complacency and sometimes that needs a shakeup. We can lose a bit of competitiveness if we’re too familiar with one another,” he says.
Both perspectives testify that the familiarity that comes with team continuity has the power to transform the approach to the game, but can also lead to losing their competitive edge. Luckily, both Ateneo teams understand the opportunity in front of them to find that balance as they enter a new season.
Xs and Os
Coming into Season 80, one of the biggest challenges Ateneo Basketball will face is applying their budding chemistry and stability to their offensive and defensive sets. However, both coaches are confident that the internal growth of their teams, as a product of continuity, is enough to take them forward.
Women’s team Coach John Flores believes that the key to a turnaround this season is nurturing the competitive edge of the Lady Eagles. Roster stability allows him to teach and mold his players into the team they need to be, with fine tuning of their on-court ambition serving as the catalyst to victory that starts before the game itself.
“We would like to be more competitive, not just in games, but in every single aspect: Practice, drills. We want to be competitive there,” he says.
On the other hand, Baldwin gears up for another trophy run by choosing to focus more on individual player development. Beginning his second season with the Blue and White, he intends to use the familiarity within the team to hone individual athletes who, in turn, will elevate the level of the team’s play.
“If we do a good job of that [player development], then there’s not as much pressure on the systems. You don’t have to be a great system team if you have very good players. Having said that, we do want our system to work very well and they do depend on chemistry, but we achieve that through a lot of hours of practice,” says Baldwin.
No team can guarantee playing perfect on-court basketball, but what Ateneo Basketball can promise is a commitment to maximizing their individual and collective potential. Despite sharing different emphases, both coaches are charged with leading their troops while they explore how to translate continuity into Xs and Os.
Team culture
When Baldwin took over the Blue Eagles, he noticed that there was a the lack of court awareness and vision in Philippine basketball in general. This style of basketball is what players have learned from a young age, which makes the mindset difficult to change.
“[Players from this] country like to put the ball on the floor and like to play individual basketball,” he explains. “I don’t believe in that [style of basketball].”
The veteran coach has been making strides towards discouraging this individualistic style of play. Having the same set of guys back for the second straight year helps in instilling this team-oriented style of play, and it has shown in the pass-heavy offense that the Blue Eagles have been running. The team’s chemistry has also improved with leadership emerging from the locker room—solving a problem that has compounded the team in the past year and a half.
The Lady Eagles, likewise, have been gravitating towards a team-first mindset. Cohesion and unity on the court is the team’s focus this year, and Flores summed up what he wants the team to be in two words.
“We want to be, like we say, one heartbeat,” he says. “We want to be consistent, competitive, and committed to all the things we are doing before the season starts.”
With similar circumstances in place for both teams, Ateneo Basketball will be facing the season with tried and tested groups of players. Although not a perfect predictor of success, continuity has proven over time that it is a valuable factor in winning. It can push a mediocre team to good, and a good team to great, which might be exactly what each team needs.
