THE NLEX Road Warriors may have won their first two games in the PBA Governors’ Cup and their fourth overall dating back last conference, but the team is patiently waiting to face the big dogs in the tournament to see how far they can go.
General manager and head coach Yeng Guiao said that it’s good to measure up his squad’s mettle by going up against the contenders, it would be a good preparation for them if they will be able to win a few more games against the dark horse teams in the tournament.
“It’s also good that before you face the big dogs, you face the lesser big dogs, not the contenders like Ginebra or San Miguel, or even Star and TNT. This is going to prepare us for that,” Mr. Guiao told BusinessWorld.
For a young team, the Road Warriors had to experience growing pains. In fact, the squad finished dead last in the first two conferences before Mr. Guiao made some drastic changes by acquiring veteran players like JR Quiñahan, Larry Fonacier and Alex Mallari to shore up their roster.
“We’re a young team. I don’t say based on average age. We got ourselves together in a really short time. Actually, this team has been together for about two months from last conference. That’s how I measure it. That’s what I mean when I say we’re still a young team. Young as a team being together,” added Mr. Guiao.
Veteran Asi Taulava, the oldest player in the PBA, and up and coming star Kevin Alas have mixed feelings going up against the heavyweights in the league, but share the same sentiment on the early they’re having right now. Both agreed they have to work harder and be more consistent.
“We can’t give up leads like that. We need to be more consistent. We’ll take this win. We just have to take it one game at a time. We just want to continue growing as a team. We try to win as many games and try to get ourselves to playoff position. We don’t want to think ahead and continue working hard together,” said Mr. Taulava.
“I’m looking forward to play the powerhouse teams. That’s where we can test our character. We’re very excited. We prepared in the off season. We can match up with the powerhouse teams — Ginebra, TNT, San Miguel,” added Mr. Alas. — Rey Joble
