The Ateneo Blue Eagles. Photo from UAAP Media.

MANILA — Ateneo de Manila University is dealing with its worst start in the UAAP in over 10 years.

The Blue Eagles plummeted to 0-3 after being dismantled by rival De La Salle University on Sunday through a 74-61 beating, with Ateneo losing steam in the second half after a promising outing in the first 20 minutes of gameplay.

"I think our offense kind of got stagnant. We had some success in the first half. If you do the math, 40 points in the first half, it's 80 in the second, but we haven't been scoring," said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin before leaving the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

READ: La Salle flexes might over Ateneo in lopsided rivalry game

Ateneo only scored four points in the third quarter, and Baldwin offered no excuses. He admitted that it was simply a case of them being a young basketball team that is still trying to figure a lot of things out. 

"In the first half, we did enough things right to be a danger on the offensive end. Those right things were attacking the basket, we got some transition baskets," he said. "And the mentality was to be more aggressive in the third quarter. But even though we talked about it at halftime, we became a bit passive."

In three games so far in Season 87, Ateneo was outscored in the third quarter by all of their opponents:18-15 against the University of the Philippines, 18-11 to University of Santo Tomas, and 15-4 versus La Salle. 

"This team hasn't had a good third quarter yet. So it's something we've got to get into the psychology of that. It isn't the ability, it isn't the tactics. We even came out — which you never see an Ateneo team do — with five minutes on the [halftime break] clock. That was so they could warm up. That was by intent. We're trying to get that halftime warm-up to get that mentality back," said Baldwin.

"We're still searching, and I don't really know the answer [for now]," added the former Gilas Pilipinas coach who also shared how it is dealing with a team that is ladened with neophytes. 

"I've coached a lot of teams so I probably should have an answer [if it’s harder to handle them], but I really don't know. Teams are fun, they all have their own psychology. Young teams generally have things that are typical of young teams, and veteran teams have things that are, but it can be a mix and match."

But despite the number of aforementioned factors that must be considered with the new age Blue Eagles, Baldwin believes that no major changes are needed to be done. It is, rather, a matter of putting faith in their players and also remaining patient with the ups and downs.

Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin. Photo from UAAP Media.

"Shawn Tuano is a good player that's getting better with experience. He should have flashed this last year. But this year, his role is more significant. I'd like to see what he's doing, but we want to see it consistently," he said. 

"We want to see Josh Lazaro repeat what he did in the last game, see Drew Bongo get going, because these guys have offensive capabilities. Until these guys start being consistent, it's going to be tough on Jared [Bahay] because the defenses are going to focus on him. 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."

"You also have to be patient with the process. You invest too much time into something you know will pay dividends; you just don't know when it will pay dividends. We just got to get the win-loss record on the rails now," added Baldwin. 

READ: Baldwin on Ateneo’s 0-3 start — ‘You have to be patient with the process’

On the brighter side of things, Ateneo veteran Chris Koon, who sustained an ankle injury against UST, is expected to return in near time. 

"I think the biggest change we'll see 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 and he's got stability in the ankle. That extra body, that extra veteran minutes will pay dividends for us," he bared.

Ateneo will next face Adamson University on Saturday, September 21, 6:30 p.m., at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.