Kevin Alas (left) returns to action after a year’s absence. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Save for a momentary loss in focus, NLEX dominated Terrafirma on Tuesday night for a wire-to-wire 104-85 victory for a second-straight victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Coach Jong Uichico, though, didn’t sound impressed at all as the Road Warriors, he knows, will have to go through some introspection if they hope for their winning ways to continue heading into the crucial stages of the conference.
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“[Winning is] good, and yes they weathered a storm. But there should’ve not been a storm,” Uichico said shortly after the triumph fashioned at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila, after NLEX improved to 2-1.
Uichico rued his charges’ disjointed play in the fourth quarter that allowed the enemy to reduce what was once a 25-point Road Warriors cushion into just nine, 77-68, with plenty of basketball left to play.
“Why did they have to weather a storm? They were already up, and in control of the game,” Uichico went on, describing his Road Warriors in the third person. “Why did they have to put themselves in that situation? We gave up 55 points in the second half, so they pretty much put themselves in that situation.
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“We will be playing San Miguel and Ginebra in the next games,” he said. “We can probably get away with some mistakes, but we probably can’t with those mistakes in [those] next two games.”
Fortunately for Uichico and NLEX, keeping the intensity up to a certain pace and some defensive tightening are the only things they will be worrying about before taking on the traditional powerhouses.
Deadly 1-2 punch
The offense looks sound and sharp with Robert Bolick and import Mike Watkins at the helm, if the rout of Terrafirma was an indication.
Watkins had 26 points and 30 rebounds while Bolick had 32 points on an outrageously efficient 11-for-14 shooting. Xyrus Torres and Tony Semerad added at least 13 points each in the effort that also kept the Dyip winless in three games.
Kevin Alas, the crafty guard who has been shelved for over a year following a third ACL tear, also finally played for NLEX. He had two points in almost 11 minutes of action.
“I’m glad because we’ve got a lot of contributions from our locals. But also, our import also dominated down low, which is why we were left open,” said Bolick. INQ
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