NLEX has been on the receiving end of three consecutive painful defeats, pushing it down to 4-5, seventh in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup standings.
Magnolia started the Road Warriors’ demise on July 2 with a dominant 87-73 win, before Converge scored a 112-108 victory last Thursday.
Then on Saturday evening, cellar dweller Rain or Shine nailed a wire-to-wire 96-86 win over NLEX at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
And one of Road Warriors’ leaders in Kevin Alas had no answers on what are the problems of their squad.
“Hindi ko rin masagot kung ano ba yung problema ng team ngayon eh,” said the 6-foot guard out of Letran moments after absorbing their third-straight loss.
“On a slump kami so to be honest, it’s not a good feeling to be on a losing streak. Of course, Coach Yeng expects a lot sa mga veterans, ako, si Don (Trollano), si JR (Quiñahan).”
But Alas was sure of one thing, their defense needs to improve as their offense is always present every game, just like today against the Elasto Painters.
Five Road Warriors reached double digits in points led by Trollano’s 20. Calvin Oftana followed with 17, while Alas registered 15 points to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
“One thing for sure problema namin yung depensa namin kasi yung opensa lagi naman nandoon yan eh, wala namang off night doon eh,” said the 2014 second overall pick.
“‘Yung stats deceiving yan eh. Maganda nga yung stats mo pero talo naman.”
Up next for NLEX is the surprising Blackwater at 5-1, currently third in the league, which it will not take lightly.
After all, Rain or Shine, who was then riding a six-game skid, defeated them to stay alive in the playoff race.
“Kalaban namin next Blackwater who’s been playing high confidence, talagang lahat ng gamitin nagdedeliver eh. It’s a challenge for the team,” said Alas.
—
The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
