After 4-0 start, surging NLEX going for more

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Coach Yeng Guiao may have his reservations when it comes to NLEX’s 4-0 start, but Carlo Lastimosa is convinced that the Road Warriors are no fluke.

But he wouldn’t deny that even he is surprised with how cohesive NLEX has been so far in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup.

“Of course, I think all of us were surprised. But maybe, it shows that our hard work is paying off,” Lastimosa said in Filipino. “We’ve been adjusting in the past two conferences, but with the veterans coming in, we’re slowly getting our groove.”

The changes have been evident, especially on Sunday when NLEX fought back from a 10-point deficit with eight minutes to play and pulled off a 95-91 squeaker over Phoenix to stay unbeaten.

Lastimosa is one of the big reasons for the Road Warriors’ come-from-behind victory, triggering the late push as he poured in 11 of his 14 points in the payoff period.

The 26-year-old slasher said the team is imbibing Guiao’s no-quit attitude.

“Our attitude comes from coach Yeng, that we won’t give up. Fortunately, we had a good showing in the fourth quarter and we’re able to get the win,” he said.

And that may really be the biggest takeaway from this scintillating stretch for NLEX that after two conferences, the team is finally forming in the same mold as the old Guiao teams in the past.

But Lastimosa would rather not get too far ahead of himself as the Road Warriors seek to achieve more than just match their total wins in the past two conferences.

“We’re not yet satisfied. We still have to prove ourselves to the stronger teams. There’s still a lot of games and we can still get eliminated early. So it’s important that we sustain this,” he said.