Kiefer Ravena made his much-anticipated debut with Alab Pilipinas on Sunday evening at the OCBC Arena in Singapore. But even with his presence, the Philippine side still fell to the Singapore Slingers, 77-67, to fall to a 0-1 hole in the best-of-three semifinals.
Even before this game, the 2016-17 ABL Season has been running since November. But during that time, Kiefer Ravena had been honing his craft in the NBA D-League while moonlighting with Mighty Sports Philippines.
The 6-foot combo guard was quickly thrown in the midst of the battle with Alab, joining the squad right in the playoffs. Ravena, who came off the bench, made it seem that he did not miss a beat but later admitted that he had lacked gas during the game.
“Sa ibang butas na ako humihinga. Ganun talaga. Siguro, maganda rin for me kasi yun nga, first time in a long while na nakalaro nang ganito,” the 23-year-old, who finished the game with 16 points in 29 minutes of action, said.
“It feels good. Tired ka, pero alam mo yung pagod na dahan-dahan ‘to.”
With just a week of preparation, Ravena said that the adjustment to Alab was seamless. Yet the two-time UAAP MVP believes that playoff basketball is more on the players, rather than the X’s and O’s.
“Adjustment-wise, wala namang problema kasi kahit papaano, nakalaro ko na ‘tong mga ‘to in one way or another, in one game or another league.
“Sa mga ganito naman kasi, wala nang adjustments, ang kailangan na lang talaga is you find a way to win. Kahit anong gameplan gagawin mo, it’s a player’s game already. Whatever the coaches will tell you, it’s still up to you whether you want to do it, whether you want to execute it,” the native of Ilo-ilo added.
And Ravena knows that in order for his team, one of neophytes in the ABL, to survive this series, they need to display composure.
“Yung Singapore kasi, matagal nang naglalaro ‘to so yun ang advantage nila. Kahit nagru-run kami, di sila nafu-frustrate, di sila nara-rattle. Kelangan nakadikit talaga kami sa kanila, yun ang pinakaimportante,” Ravena assessed. “Kailangan na lang, 110 percent na lang, nandun na yung effort.
“Kailangan naming kunin yung Game 2 kasi baka sa sobrang dahan-dahan, wala na. Baka magdahan-dahan masyado, wala nang Game 3. So kailangan naming trumiple ng effort and sama-sama lang.”
