Last May 14, the House of Representatives approved a bill that will rename the North Luzon Expressway to Marcelo H. Del Pilar Expressway as they want to “constantly remind” Filipinos of the national hero.
Once the news rolled out, there were mixed reactions. Some understand the sense of renaming; meanwhile, others disagree with it, expressing that pronouncing MHDPEX is harder than simply “NLEX”.
But basketball heads, especially those who follow the PBA, are curious: will the NLEX Road Warriors become the MHDPEX Road Warriors soon?
Tiebreaker Times asked Road Warriors head coach Yeng Guaio about the issue. The former congressman said that he had already heard about the MHDPEX, but the team’s renaming is something that has yet to be discussed.
Guiao also said that it will all depend on the decision of the team’s top brass.
“Narinig ko na pero we have not discussed that or taken it up, so wala akong masabi dun.
“I don’t think that’s something I can discuss at my level. Sa level yun ng mga bossing, depende yun kung anong decision nila,” he said.
Guiao’s main concern is his Road Warriors’ current situation. On Wednesday night in Antipolo City, NLEX lost to a Terrence Jones-powered TNT KaTropa, 87-102, in their 2019 Commissioner’s Cup opener.
“Masyado yung quality ng import. Of course, we know he’s a legit NBA player. I think it all started from there. The whole team fed off on his performance,” said Guiao, as NBA veteran Jones made 41 points and 14 rebounds for TNT.
While TNT have seemingly found their import for the rest of the mid-season joust, the same can’t be said for NLEX. Their import Curtis Washington is just a replacement for Tony Mitchell after the latter failed to report in time.
But Guiao revealed that Mitchell is in the country right now, and they might bring him in sometime soon.
“Nandito lang naman siya sa Pilipinas, nabalitaan lang namin kanina.
“So we’re looking at that option. We’re playing on Saturday… I don’t know if there’s enough time to do that. We are seriously considering that option now,” he said.
Guiao said that he would prefer to have a solid import at his disposal, since he believes that it would cover NLEX’s current deficiencies. As of now, big men JR Quiñahan and Kris Porter have joined Kevin Alas in the injury list.
And now, the head coach must figure out how to build his team for the conference.
