MANILA, Philippines—As dominant as NLEX looked in Game 1, coach Boyet Fernandez thinks his Road Warriors may be in for a hard time when they shoot for a second straight PBA D-League championship Tuesday.
The Road Warriors, heavily favored with their virtual all-star amateur cast, go for a sweep of Freego Jeans in Game 2 of the Aspirants Cup Finals at 3 p.m. at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.
“We have to step up again,” said Fernandez, whose Road Warriors rolled past the Jeans Makers, 75-51, in the opener of their best-of-three title series last Thursday.
“We’re not taking Freego lightly. They’re really good, they were just out-of-sync in Game 1. I know they’ll be back.”
Before the tip-off, the league will award the Best Player of the Conference plum to the top statistical performer and vote-getter among NLEX’s RR Garcia, Freego’s Lester Alvarez and Cebuana Lhuillier’s Vic Manuel.
Aside from Garcia, the Road Warriors also boast a stronger scoring artillery with Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang, Garvo Lanete, Dave Marcelo, Borgie Hermida, Emman Monfort, Cliff Hodge and Chris Ellis.
“We can’t match up with them in terms of individual skills and athleticism,” admitted Freego coach Leo Austria. “The only chance we’ve got is to match their intensity, play smart and play with a lot of hustle.”
The Jeans Makers struggled from the field in Game 1 where only Alvarez finished in double figures. But Austria expects his other veterans led by Alex Nuyles and Eric Camson to redeem themselves and forge a Game 3 decider.
Fernandez, though, said he wants his Road Warriors to clamp down on defense.
“What we want to do is to dictate on defense and limit the opponent below 70,” he said.