Kiefer’s a gem
Magnolia versus NLEX in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday night was not just about the Hotshots and the Road Warriors colliding for solo second place in the elimination round.
It was also to see how ready the Hotshots are to challenge the big guns in the tournament, and also to see if the Road Warriors, considering that they were clashing with a heavyweight for the first time, were worthy of their pre-tournament tag as title threats.
And, it was also to see how Paul Lee was supposed to take NLEX super tyro Kiefer Ravena to school.
In the end, Magnolia showed that it really belongs in the company of the elite with a 105-94 victory, clearly exposing where NLEX is weakest—in the middle.
Lee, and even Hotshots coach Chito Victolero, ended up praising the 6-foot Ravena.
Magnolia wielded command all night, with Lee the main man who doused cold water on several NLEX rallies in the second half with timely triples that stung the Road Warriors on the way to 21 points in 24 minutes.
Ravena finished with 31 points and was chiefly responsible for keeping the Road Warriors in the game as coach Yeng Guiao played him close to 33 error-free minutes.
“We tried everything to stop him,” Victolero said after Ravena’s career game. “But he just kept finding ways to score. It was a good thing that we were able to limit the others (Ravena’s support cast).”
Magnolia thus improved to 3-1 to trail solo leader San Miguel Beer by just half-a-game, while the Road Warriors dropped to 2-2 and are left to pick up the pieces after a second straight defeat.
“Napakagaling na bata (He’s a really outstanding kid),” Lee later said of Ravena. “He really has the talent and he did that (31 points) even with our defense trained on him the entire game.”
Guiao saw the enormous talent in Ravena, who came out of college as a swingman but has made the transition to the point with ease.
“Kiefer played a great [offensive] game, but that’s not our style of play,” Guiao said. “We don’t want one player taking over offensively and carry us on his shoulders.”
