For about two months, coach Yeng Guiao was far away from his NLEX Road Warriors.
Guiao had to leave his mother team temporarily to heed to the country’s call, as he manned the sidelines for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2018 Asian Games last August and in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers early September.
So when he came back to NLEX after the long absence, everybody was glad. And on Wednesday, he returned with a bang.
Guiao and his Road Warriors played the villain’s role and busted the four-game winning streak of the surging Blackwater Elite in the 2018 Governors’ Cup through an impressive 124-106 victory at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The win has shaken up the team standings. From the top, the Elite have fallen to the second spot, tied with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at 4-1. A new leader has emerged in the Phoenix Fuel Masters, who own a 5-1 record.
“Matagal-tagal kaming naghanda nung nakita naming this team is really for real, so we made sure we were prepared for this game,” said the decorated bench tactician after the win, which improved their win-loss card to 4-2.
As for himself, Guiao couldn’t be happier that he has finally reunited with his boys. And this time, he has brought in the experiences he earned from his stints abroad, and has applied them to the Road Warriors.
“For me myself, I’m excited to coach just to get the feel of the PBA again,” he beamed. “Sabi ko nga marami ka matutunan and you wanna apply what you learned.
“So we tried a few experiments and they seemed to work.”
But more than his return, Guiao is particularly elated about the work his coaches have done while he was away – assistant coaches Jojo Lastimosa and the rest steered NLEX to a 3-2 record while Guiao wasn’t around.
“Happy ako run, 3-2. For the head coach to be absent for five games, with some major minor injuries at that time. So I’m really very happy with the way coach Jolas, Adonis Tierra, Sandy Arespacochaga took over,” Guiao lauded.
“Meron pa ngang point na nasa Jakarta kami, I thought ‘di na ako kailangan. But it was a team effort even while I was gone. Yung mga players namin kept on working hard even when I was gone together with the coaching staff.”
