NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao was definitely glad to see his side achieve its goal of entering the 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
The Road Warriors did so on Wednesday after dealing Alaska a 106-89 drubbing for their sixth win of the season-ending conference – historically the magic number of wins teams need to fulfill their playoff aspirations.
“We just wanted to win this game, first is to assure ourselves of entry into the quarterfinals,” the champion mentor said.
“I think six wins gets you safely into the quarterfinals, so at least ‘yung unang objective namin na makarating ng playoffs, andiyan na.”
But NLEX isn’t satisfied yet. The crew has its sights set on a Top Four finish at eliminations’ end to secure a win-once incentive in the quarters.
Looking at the standings, the Road Warriors are currently sitting at third with a 6-3 record. They are behind Magnolia (6-0) and Meralco (5-1).
They still have two more assignments remaining. First will be versus the ninth-ranked Rain or Shine (3-5) this Friday; then against the eighth-running Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (3-4) on March 4.
Kevin Alas wasn’t shy to reveal that he and NLEX remain keen on finishing in the upper half of the playoff cast.
“Lord willing, makuha namin ‘yung Top Four, because Top Four is twice-to-beat. So it’s really a big advantage coming into the playoffs,” he said.
“Last two games namin, we’ll see how far we can get,” Guiao said, on the other hand.
“We’re trying to preserve our incentive – if you’re in the Top Four, you have some incentive. So that’s what we’re looking for now.”
Alas himself was among the leaders of Wednesday’s big win. There, he finished with 19 points, including 15 in the first quarter. He also drilled three of their seven treys that enabled them to take command the rest of the way.
As huge of a victory it was, the second-generation cager only has a simple reminder for the Road Warriors in their Top Four hopes.
“Of course, it’s a good win for us. But ‘yun naman sinasabi ko to some of the players, na let’s take it one game at a time,” he said,
“Because if we look much forward na we want to be in this place in the standings, mas lalo kaming mape-pressure. So we just focused on Alaska, our next focus now is Rain or Shine.”
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