NLEX’s Don Trollano. –PBA IMAGES
NLEX coach Yeng Guiao witnessed the kind of improvement Blackwater had been making this season.
“Actually, I’m now like a fan of theirs after the progress they’ve made,” Guiao admitted. “From a losing streak to what they are now, they’re really doing something extraordinary so you have to respect that.”
But Guiao mixed that respect with a dash of desperation and a lot of effort from his undermanned Road Warriors and gave the Bossing a stark reminder of their not-so-distant dark ages.
‘Intensely readied’
NLEX tore apart Blackwater, 98-68, in their PBA Philippine Cup showdown on Friday at Ynares Center in Antipolo City to kick their playoff drive back into high gear.
“We intensely readied [for them], turned in extra effort in preparation. In our viewing, we thoroughly studied their plays. This is out of desperation,” the fiery coach said shortly after the blowout that had NLEX going back to the .500 mark and currently own the No. 7 spot in the race to the quarterfinals.The Road Warriors flexed their defense immediately, holding Blackwater to just two points in the first quarter.
“We really scraped to deny Blackwater any rhythm or momentum because once you did, it would mean trouble,” Guiao said of the defensive effort that matched an all-time league record for least points in a quarter.
And the Road Warriors just kept pounding. Don Trollano and Calvin Oftana led the charge, finishing with 16 and 15 points, respectively, for NLEX, which was in need of firepower. Already without Kiefer Ravena, the Road Warriors rested star guard Kevin Alas due to a hamstring issue.
Facelift season
For Blackwater, the loss was truly alarming. And it wasn’t that the team had now lost three straight matches. After all, at 5-4, Blackwater is still half a game up on NLEX in the standings.
It’s the fact that NLEX made the team look so silly, the Bossing resembled the squad whose memory they are trying to scrub off in this supposedly facelift campaign this season—the one that cycled through a league record 29 straight losses.
No player scored in double figures for Blackwater, with Yousef Taha leading the scoring parade with nine points and nine rebounds. Ato Ular, the rookie picked in the second round who had been drawing raves recently, finished with just eight points, the same number punched in by Baser Amer, who had been putting opponents to sleep in the past with killer shots.
NLEX, meanwhile, will try to move out of the dangerous seventh spot and drift into best-of-three territory when it battles NorthPort on July 21.
“We’re going to treat that like a championship game. Perhaps prepare the same way we did for Blackwater. Maybe even more as we’re going to have some days off—I think more than a week,” said Guiao.
The No. 7 and No. 8 playoff spots will battle the top two teams in the quarterfinals, with those squads protected by twice-to-beat incentives. Teams in the Nos. 3 to 6 slots will battle in a race-to-two series.