Ravena’s career-high not enough to get NLEX back on track

It seems that Kiefer Ravena’s early success in the PBA has come to an end.

After NLEX won two straight to open its campaign in the PBA Philippine Cup, Ravena and the Road Warriors were stopped in their tracks and skidded to two straight losses.

And although Ravena scored a career-high 31 points with four rebounds and five assists, he knows it all went down the drain as one victory is more important than individual numbers.

“It’s down the drain, we have to wake up,” said Ravena after losing to Magnolia 105-94 Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “We have to fight for survival.”

Ravena added teams may have finally caught up on their style and it’s time for them to adjust and prepare better for their upcoming games.

“When you’re a rookie, people don’t know much about you and they don’t know what to expect of you,” said Ravena in Filipino. “But as the conference progresses and they get to watch more of your games they will get familiarized more.”

“It’s like coming to a test day, you do your homework, here you’re getting out of your way to study your opponents because you can’t just practice and expect to win every single game.”

Apart from the intangibles, Ravena said it was his team’s bad rebounding that put them in the position they’re in.

Magnolia outrebounded NLEX 61-42 as a whole and 15-11 on the offensive glass.

“We were outrebounded by 19 rebounds and that’s a lot,” said Ravena in Filipino. “It’s all about effort, so on that part we lost and that’s what irritated coach Yeng [Guiao] the most.”