Coming off dismal tournament, Road Warriors remain guardedly optimistic after 2-0 start

The opening week of each conference in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) always sees a ritual of renewal: Each team makes a new start, each person plans how to cash in on the lessons learned from the previous campaign.

And this cannot be true for NLEX.

But despite a 2-0 start to the campaign, the Road Warriors are more than wary of going through the Governors Cup after a dismal showing in their first tournament under new coach Frankie Lim.

“We played horribly last time,” Kevin Alas told the Inquirer. “We chalk it up to the adjustment phase. But now, we have no more reason not to do better than the last conference.

NLEX, it can be recalled, also opened the Commissioner’s Cup on a high, with two early victories. They went on to lose seven of their next eight meetings which ruined their campaign and sent them down to ninth seed – just outside the threshold of qualifying for the playoffs.

High task

And that’s where many of Alas’s views are about optimism and fear in equal measure – something that Lim also echoes.

“I keep telling them that it takes a lot of work in practice [to do better]. It will pay good dividends come game time,” he said.

“The last conference, I have to finish [the players] we have. At least at this conference, we have new people coming. The change is that we are a tough team now. There’s a lot of toughness in my players and that’s a good sign,” he said, pointing to new pickups Sean Anthony, Jake Pascual and Hesed Gabo.

The Road Warriors, who reached the Final Four of the last Governor’s Cup, will have the opportunity to prove that they have actually turned the corner when they fight the sister company TNT in the nightcap Wednesday.

But the task is scheduled for 5:45pm at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City – so high that Tropang Giga also made a good account with team manager Jojo Lastimosa who fired at that time.

The perennial contenders have also won two straight, playing impressively despite the absence of defensive anchor Poy Erram.

NLEX will also come into the match on loan with Jonathon Simmons, who has been big in the two victories, approaching his last game in the PBA before flying to China, where the NBA veteran signed a good deal.

Lim earlier said he had a prior agreement with Simmons to help NLEX win its first four games. The latter, for his part, promised to remain silent on his departure and focus only on honoring the agreement.

Beermen against Bossing

“Right now, I’m just worried about competing with the guys and the coaches—and with what they’re asking, and then just going from there,” he said.

Also looking to bolster their winning ways under the new coach is San Miguel Beer who played Blackwater 1-1 in the curtain-raiser set at 3pm.

The vaunted club, now coached by Jorge Galent, hopes to make it a second straight victory after beating Phoenix 114-93 last Sunday.

“We’re trying to build on what we did in the last conference. We know we’re lacking, and we know our main goal is to win a championship, and we’re just trying to get started. [on the] right foot,” said Simon Enciso, who was among the many stars for the Beermen in the contest. INQ

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