THE GREENEST among the lot, the NLEX Road Warriors accept the reality that odds are against them in their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals matchup with seasoned defending champion Barangay Ginebra.
But the troops of veteran mentor Yeng Guiao are firm in their desire to prove they can compete against the battle-hardened Gin Kings and possibly pull off an underdog triumph en route to a historic finals appearance.
“We’re the overwhelming underdogs. Aside from being the new players among teams competing in the semifinal round, Ginebra has the crowd support and the experience,” said coach Yeng Guiao.
The win-once Road Warriors took two games to beat No. 7 Alaska in the quarterfinals and advanced to the Final Four for only the second time after their breakthrough in the 2017-18 Philippine Cup. NLEX lost to Magnolia in six games in a best-of-seven affair that time.
On the other hand, the Gin Kings toppled twice-to-beat No. 3 TNT to get their usual spots at this stage of the tourney. Prior to this duel, the crowd darlings captured the crown in two of the last three conferences.
For Mr. Guiao and the Road Warriors, the best approach is to just concentrate on getting themselves well-equipped for the best-of-five series that begins tomorrow at the MOA Arena.
“We’re focused on our improvement, our progress,” said Mr. Guiao. “We don’t want to focus on Ginebra because the more you worry about them, the more pressure it is for us.”
The NLEX Road Warriors coaching staff is pleased with the progress of the squad especially with new additions like Kris Rosales, Matt Nieto, Justin Chua, and import Cameron Clark starting to blend in.
Still, they will have their hands full against Ginebra’s resident reinforcement Justin Brownlee and reliables like Scottie Thompson, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger. — Olmin Leyba