Though they were without their ace JP Erram, Blackwater head coach Bong Ramos did not use this as an excuse following the Elite’s 106-124 loss at the hands of the NLEX Road Warriors on Wednesday, which put an end to their four-game winning streak in the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
Expectations for the Elite to go 5-0 and solidify their hold of the top spot of the standings were high prior to Wednesday, but the Road Warriors took control in the second frame and waxed hot in the third to send Blackwater’s bid out the window.
“Wala. Talo. Siguro… Wala eh. ‘Di kami maka-connect eh,” rued Ramos. “Defensively, off rin kami.
“Siguro ito yung tinatawag na law of averages. The whole, defensively, offensively. But I give credit to coach Yeng (Guiao) and NLEX.”
The Elite played without Erram due to an illness. Without him, Blackwater lost in a few aspects of their game, such as inside scoring and rebounding. But then again, the veteran tactician isn’t using that as a reason.
“Hindi naman, hindi naman. Kasi Talk N’ Text tinalo namin without Poy eh,” recalled Ramos of the Elite’s 104-98 win over the TNT Katropa last August, when Erram was at the Asian Games. “So ako, tiwala ako na we can play kahit na sinong mawala.”
With Wednesday’s stinging defeat, the Elite has now gone down to 4-1, and from being on top of the standings, they have slid down to the second spot along with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, who also sport a 4-1 record.
The Phoenix Fuel Masters are now the new leaders with a 5-1 card.
With this setback, Ramos is now looking at whether his players have built their character after starting the season-conference unbeaten.
“Diyan namin ngayon susubukan, do we know how to bounce back. Character, I’m sure we developed character na maganda dahil naka-4-0 kami eh, and hindi naman ordinary yung tinalo namin na teams,” Ramos said. “Sabi ko nga, kaya ba namin mag-bounce back against Meralco (on October 5)? Yun ngayon yung assignment namin, to bounce back against Meralco. Sabi ko nga sa mga players, we cannot get our fifth win in on a silver spoon.
“Sabi ko tandaan niyo, wala pa tayong napu-prove, kasi nga kulelat tayo last conference eh, so lahat ng kalaban natin malakas, so NLEX is mas malakas parin sa atin, next game, lahat mas-malakas sa amin,” Ramos furthered.
“Siguro hindi na-control yung mga isip, pero I believe that we have to re-group. Magre-regroup kami.”
