Back to Square One: Jolo Mendoza, Shaun Ildefonso and the Ateneo Blue Eaglets' Evolution during the preseason

Memories of the championship are still fresh in the minds of the Blue Eaglets. (Photo Credit: Mon Rubio, The Shaded Lane)

Memories of the Ateneo Blue Eaglets winning the UAAP Season 77 Juniors Basketball Championship is still very much ingrained in the heads of the current Blue Eaglets. Why wouldn't it be? That championship was the first for the Blue Eaglets after 4 years.

For Jolo, Shaun and the rest of the Blue Eaglets during that time, that championship meant a lot for them. For Jolo, it was his first championship after 3 years of being ringless in the Juniors Division. For Shaun, it was his second championship his whole life, with the first being with La Salle in the SBP. Point is, that championship meant a lot to the Blue Eaglets. That championship is still fresh in the heads for not only the Ateneo community, but the rest of the basketball community as well. Then, as the popular saying goes...

Walang forever. 

After Boracay, the partying, the celebrating, it was back to square one for the Blue Eaglets. Sure, they had a stacked squad coming into the season. Arguably, the team entering into the season was their deepest in recent memory. But as shown by their performance in the Filoil Flying V Preseason tournament, they had lots of things to improve on before they could label themselves as contenders. The most alarming thing at that time? Not their shooting. Not their chemistry. Their attitude.

"Inunderestimate namin sila (Mapua, the ones that knocked them out in the Filoil tournament). After the game nga, sinabi nga nila Coach Joe (Silva), yumayabang na raw kami," Shaun Ildefonso shared. "Sobrang nanghihinayang lang ako sa team, noong game na yun. Sobrang laki ng potential ng team namin eh. Tapos, dun pa kami natatalo, sa attitude problems."

In fact, that was an issue for the team early on in the season, especially when it came to the rookies. Most of the rookies (Belangel, Berjay, Credo, D. Ildefonso) were treated as the stars in their respective teams before the Eaglets. So naturally, they wanted to be the stars as well when it came to being in the Eaglets. "Ineexplain nila Coach Joe na, 'Iba rito eh. Kailangan sundin niyo yung roles niyo lang. Dun sa simula, they were adjusting pa. Ang daming nagsasarili." Something had to be done with this problem of theirs.

Enter team building.

Actually, don't call it team building. For the Blue Eaglets, it was FAMILY building. They didn't build a team in that event of theirs. They built a family. The Eaglets got to say everything they wanted to say to each other, and most importantly, they were able to fix the problems which they had during the preseason. It's been smooth sailing for them ever since.

"We've accepted our roles na. Hindi puwede lahat scorer, kasi yun nga, in our past teams lahat kami naging main option sa offense. Ngayon, we're sharing the ball na, tapos, tulungan tulungan talaga," Finals MVP Jolo Mendoza shared. For a team this loaded and talented, attitude problems seemed inevitable. But ever since, then those problems have served as lessons for the talented Blue Eaglets. They've since then focused their attention to one thing; the championship.

In fact, the team feels like they have something to prove to everybody. Despite lots of people labeling the Blue Eaglets as sure fire contenders, in the eyes of the Blue Eaglets, people are favoring the NU Bullpups and the De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers as the teams favored to win it all. Who could blame those people? It wasn't the Eaglets that won any preseason tournaments. It was the Bullpups and the Junior Archers.

If anything, those doubts are only pumping up the Blue Eaglets even more. Now that they've handled their differences and the problems which they had, expect the Blue Eaglets to come out firing starting this Saturday. Not as individuals, but as a team. As a family.

"Naniniwala ako na it's our year din naman," Shaun Ildefonso shared. That's for us to find out.