Going into Game Six of the NLEX Road Warriors’ semifinals series against the Magnolia Hotshots, Kiefer Ravena has played beyond his age, averaging 17.2 points and 4.8 assists per game.
However, Ravena struggled when NLEX needed him the most.
During the first 36 minutes of the contest, the 6-foot combo guard could not buy a bucket, shooting a dismal 1-of-12 from the field.
“It was, of course, the defense of Magnolia. There was an incident in the game that really knocked me off at the start of the game,” recalled Ravena.
“But we had no rhythm, thought I was having a good one – made my first shot – and you know after that it was a struggle.”
The second overall pick in the 2017 Rookie Draft ended the game with his series-low nine points on a 3-of-17 clip. Moreover, he had a crucial turnover late that stopped their comeback attempt that led to their 89-96 loss.
After a nightmarish end to his first-ever conference in the pros, the second generation cager does not plan on forgetting this game. Instead, he will use this as fuel.
“Bad game. Makes me…keeps me hungrier and it’s something that you know I can’t…it’s a deep cut.
“I’ll be ready. I’ll be preparing for the next conference, for sure,” expressed the leader in the Rookie of the Year race.
Moreover, he and the Road Warriors still see this campaign as a success. The fifth-year franchise saw a lot of first this conference, including making their first semifinals appearance.
“Of course, we have to take the good with the bad, sasalain mo naman yun kung anu yung mga bagay na…it’s the first time we made it to the semifinals as a franchise and for us to prolong it to a Game Six against a very, very historic franchise in Magnolia, it’s a success for us.
“But we can’t stay complacent, we can’t stay na ayaw namin sabihin na okay na tayo sa ganito. Of course, from now on, you experienced how winning is in the playoffs, in the semifinals, so from now on coach [Yeng Guiao] said that anything less than the semifinals is a disappointment for us so I guess yun na yung sinabi niya,” Ravena furthered. “And then we have to take that and that’s true for us players and that the feeling of losing in the semifinals SUCKS big time and winning is very much the opposite so we would like to pick the latter more often.”
Having this experience under their belt, Kiefer Ravena and the NLEX Road Warriors will be a more dangerous batch come the Commissioner’s Cup.
