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After losing the game to the Alaska Aces in overtime on Monday, the NLEX Road Warriors knew their fate was no longer in their hands. While there was still a chance they’d get a shot at Painters Rain or Shine Elasto for a knockout game for last place in the playoffs, they knew that winning against Alaska was their golden opportunity to completely change their conference.
“I just told the players to manage their expectations,” said NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao after ending his 2020 PBA Philippine Cup campaign with a 127-101 victory over TerraFirma Dyip. “There were too many things we needed to happen and most of it was already out of our control.”
The Road Warriors were eager spectators at the game between TNT Tropang Giga and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Tuesday. NLEX needed to win their game against Dyip and Rain or Shine to lose their games against TNT and Phoenix Super LPG to force a knockout fight for eighth place.
However, TNT decided to rest Jayson Castro (knee pain) and Ryan Reyes (back spasms) as they were practically guaranteed a top four spot even with a loss due to their superior ratio against all other teams that could. be involved in the 7. -4 tie on the win-loss count.
“We played our best basketball before we faced Alaska,” Guiao lamented. “And we also played a very good game against them that went into extra time. We lost due to some interruptions in the game. When you lose a game and take control of fate, you have no right to demand anything from the other teams. I told my players who manage their expectations. If things go our way, we will celebrate, but if they don’t, we can’t complain. “
The Road Warriors will come out of the PBA bubble on Thursday in what Guiao considers the best consolation prize, as they will see their families again and return to their respective routines.
“There is a part of me that is still broken. I would have loved to stay and compete in the playoffs, but I am excited to go home to my family,” Guiao said.
The pampeano is proud of the management of the PBA of all the competition and more proud that his province welcomed it. Now Guiao adds a new experience to his illustrious career.
“One of my conclusions was that the PBA bubble was like being in a training camp with 12 other teams. Therefore, being able to stay in a hotel with 11 teams that you are competing with and there was not a single adverse incident that it happened, “Guiao said. “You get to know more about your team, but also about the other teams because you meet them at the hotel and in the elevator, maybe even have a quick chat.”
The multi-title mentor will miss another chance to win the only title that has escaped him at the Philippine Cup. However, you can’t wait to get down to business and start preparing for the next one, knowing what you know now.
“We were in very good condition seven months ago but, in the face of the PBA bubble, we lost all of that,” he admitted. “When we got here, we only had nine players for a week, so we couldn’t even do our practices. When the other six players arrived, we had to wait a few more days due to quarantine measures. I think we missed a lot during that week. “.
When asked if he thinks the next PBA competition will take place in another bubble configuration, Guiao replied that he would rather it were not.
“We miss the fans,” he said. “But we also know that it is out of our control. The good thing is that now we have options. If there is a vaccine and it allows us to have 50% capacity in the headquarters, then we should do it. If we need to make another bubble, then at least already we know what it takes to do it and we can even improve the things we did here.
