The NLEX Road Warriors’ struggles in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup continued on Wednesday night, when they bowed to a well-deployed GlobalPort Batang Pier side by a huge margin, 116-94.
The loss sent NLEX to their fourth loss in the tilt. The loss was a truly frustrating one, considering that they were coming off a 120-115 win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters last Friday.
The Road Warriors are obviously far from the form they showed in the 2018 Philippine Cup. That time, they were a more organized unit — they even went as far as the semifinals as the sixth seed.
So for Kiefer Ravena, he’s concerned that he and his teammates may be trying too hard to emulate the way they ran things in the previous conference.
“I guess we’re trying too hard. We’re not having fun,” said the top rookie. “We want to do so much things and ending up doing and staying away from our system.
“I guess yun na lang yun.”
What makes this slump even more frustrating, according to the 24-year-old combo guard, is that they already feel as if they’re letting a lot of people down, especially their head coach Yeng Guiao.
“Nakakahiya tuwing ganyan yung nilalaro namin, kasi we’re not only representing our brand, our company, at the same time, we’re representing a very coveted coach in Coach Yeng,” he rued.
The Road Warriors are now heading into a two-week break for the All-Star Week. For Ravena, who was voted as a starter for All-Stars Visayas, it will be tough for him to head into the festivities.
“Ang sama.
“I’m not even thinking about the All-Star break. I was looking forward to it, after this game it just went downward spiral,” shared Ravena, who will also play for the SMART All-Stars.
Is it now time to push the panic button, he was asked.
“Hindi naman puwede mag-panic,” expressed the Iloilo-born cager. “Kailangan lang talaga trabahuin, siguro sense of urgency, more than panic, ‘pag panic kasi hindi mo na alam yung ginagawa mo minsan eh.
“We still have to be in control, we still have to be at the top of our minds and still think of the things that we did during our first win, and last conference, All-Filipino Cup, kung ano yung ginawa namin para makapasok sa semifinals.”
