'Not from our system': Ateneo's Bahay brushes off career-high scoring in loss to La Salle

MANILA, Philippines -- Ateneo rookie Jared Bahay admitted that he is “unhappy” despite having his best game as a Blue Eagle after Ateneo absorbed an 80-65 loss to rivals La Salle Green Archers in their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball clash on Saturday.

Bahay paced Ateneo with a career-high 22 points on an efficient 8-of-15 shooting. He also had four assists and two rebounds in the contest.

After the game, the guard said that while he tallied his career-best, there is much left to be desired.

“Twenty-two points pero I'm not happy about it kasi most of those points hindi galing sa system namin, although pumasok siya pero kailangan talaga… sinasabi ko nga kanina, mag-stick to the plan and kung anong gusto naming shot selection,” he told reporters.

“It's a great of a game in a loss. As I said kanina, hindi ako happy sa outcome pero it's a great learning experience para sa team and we hope we can bring these to the following games,” he added.

The floor general also emphasized that there’s a lot of room for improvement for him.

“I'm gonna work on it and sana I'll get there.”

Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin, for his part, said that the people are now “seeing more and more the player that Jared Bahay is.”

“Obviously he's going to develop, he's going to improve, but he's actually settling into this level of competition more than it is anything in terms of real improvement. He's fitter than he was at the beginning of the season, and I wouldn't say yet he's becoming a much better decision-maker. I just think he's getting more comfortable at this level of competition,” he stressed.

“He's showing what he's capable of at the offensive end, but we need better leadership, we need better defense, and we need him to be a guy that leads his team rather than someone who tries to carry his team, because there's times when he's trying to make the tough play, and he shouldn't be,” he added.

Baldwin also admitted that while former Ateneo guards also went through having heavy responsibility early on in their collegiate careers, they had other players to learn from, unlike Bahay.

“It's tough for a young player to have that responsibility put on him at such an early stage. Forthsky [Padrigao] went through it. S.J. Bellingel went through it. Matt Nieto went through it. But none of them were featured freshman players. They had each other to learn from. Jared doesn't have that,” he said.

“And so he's having to kind of go into the kitchen where it's hottest and try and learn. And he's playing better, but we need a great point guard out of him, not just a good scorer in the point guard position,” he added.

“I know he's a tough kid, and I'm close to him, and I really believe in him, and I know he can take criticism, but that's where he's going to grow and evolve as a basketball player. He's going to be much better at becoming the type of guard that extracts better basketball from his whole team, not just from himself.”

Through 10 games, Bahay is leading Ateneo with 10.9 points and 4.4 assists per game on a 28.5% shooting from the field.

The Blue Eagles are currently holding a 3-7 win-loss record thus far this season.

They will be facing the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons next on October 30, 6:30 p.m., at the Mall of Asia Arena.