NLEX Wins Despite 33 Points from Stanley Pringle

Ravena, Quinahan lead balanced scoring to go 2-0 in the Philippine Cup.

After getting Kiefer Ravena as the 2nd overall pick from this year’s draft, many people thought that the arrival of the Phenom could help the NLEX Road Warriors contend for a championship. After all, Ravena contributed in the 5-peat run of the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in the UAAP, a run that stretched from 2008 to 2012 under Norman Black.

Fast forward to the opening conference of the 43rd season of the PBA, Kiefer Ravena has been living up the hype that was built around him as he continued his phenomenal start to his long-anticipated PBA career. On Christmas Day, the Phenom led the NLEX Road Warriors to a 115-104 victory over the GlobalPort Batang, taking advantage of the absence of 3-time scoring champion, Terrence Romeo and overcoming Stanley Pringle’s 33 points. 

Outside of Kiefer Ravena’s brilliance on the court, Yeng Guiao was able to get the most from his team like he always does. Below are the things that won the game for NLEX:

Balanced Scoring

Sure, Stanley Pringle exploded for 33 points, going 11 for 21 on the field while playing for 41 minutes but he was one of the only 2 starters of GlobalPort who scored in double figures. 

On the other side, NLEX had 5 of their starters who scored at least 8 points, led by Kiefer Ravena who had 20 points and 5 assists. JR Quinahan followed that up with his 19 points and 9 rebounds which earned him the Best Player of the Game award. Larry Fornacier had 12 points despite his shooting woes while fellow Ateneo alumnus, Juami Tiongson scored 10 points. 

25 Turnovers Hurt GlobalPort

Playing without their star, Terrence Romeo could have played a role in the Batang Pier’s defeat to open their season but they turned the ball over, 25 times- a thing that the Road Warriors took advantage of as they scored 24 points from those turnovers. In contrast, the Batang Pier only forced 16 turnovers from NLEX and only scored 15 points from those NLEX miscues. 

59 Points from NLEX’s Bench

As mentioned above, Yeng Guiao has been known as a coach who is getting the most out of his players- most especially from his bench troopers. Against the Batang Pier, the bench of NLEX exploded for 59 points- a far contrast from the 43 points of the bench players of GlobalPort. 

Conclusion

Whether or not Kiefer Ravena can keep up his phenomenal performance especially against the elite teams is something that we all have to wait and see. But given the fact that he’s playing under Yeng Guiao, we can all bet that Ravena is already the top bet for this season’s Rookie of the Year. And who knows, the dynamic duo of the Phenom and Kevin Alas might be the missing piece for Yeng Guiao to add another championship under his belt. 

The Phenom Takes off, Leads NLEX to Win

NLEX was able to hang on for a wire-to-wire win

(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Heading into the new season, the Kia Picanto has been one of the hottest topics of pundits owing to the fact that they traded away their chance of drafting Christian Standhardinger to the San Miguel Beermen in exchange for bench players. Most people are laughing at this decision precisely because Standhardinger could have been the new face of the franchise and he will be, one day, for the Beermen instead. Despite the trade, Chris Gavina said that his team is out to prove their doubters wrong that the Kia Picanto will be competitive with the team that they have.

On the other hand, the NLEX Road Warriors are heading into this game, filled with confidence and hope. Why? The Road Warriors will be bannered by the dynamic backcourt duo of Kevin Alas and this year’s number 2 pick, Kiefer Ravena.

True enough, the Kia Picanto was able to surprise the NLEX Road Warriors until the Road Warriors found their groove late which enabled them to open the Philippine Cup with a 119-115 victory over Kia as they opened the Kiefer Ravena era in the PBA.

Kia’s Impressive Start

Just seconds after making his first start, Kiefer Ravena immediately made sure that his presence was felt as he assisted on the Road Warriors’ first basket and added 2 three-pointers during the first few minutes of the first quarter as NLEX went up, at 12-5 before Eric Camson nailed two freebies for the Picanto. From that moment, the Picanto went on a scoring run to tie the score for the first time, at 12 apiece until Kia took the lead on a Paniamogan trey, at 15-13. The Picanto was able to stretch their lead to 7 points as they were hitting their threes early on. 

The Kia Picanto was able to end the first quarter with the lead, at 40-36. This success can be associated with their 60% shooting from rainbow distance and of course, Eric Camson’s 15 points in the first quarter alone.

Kia Kept on Surprising

While many expected Yeng Guiao’s boys to start playing well at the start of the second quarter, Kia just kept on scoring especially from outside as their lead extended to 8 points, at 48-40 with 10 minutes to play in the first half. A Jackson Corpuz lay-up gave Kia their first double-digit lead, at 54-44. 

Throughout the second quarter, the Picanto was able to get significant contributions from almost everyone- including Ronald Tubid who was one of the players they received from the Standhardinger deal. Even though NLEX was able to inch closer, their offensive inconsistency was what kept them from inching much closer to the latter parts of the quarter. But, thanks to the efforts of Kiefer Ravena who already had 13 points and 7 assists at the half, the Road Warriors were able to trim down the lead to 4 points at the break, at 68-64.

Up and Down Battle in the Second Half

Opening the third quarter with a slim margin, the Picanto relied on their inside game as they slowly established a double-digit anew during the early goings of the 2nd half. However, the Road Warriors went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 76 all with under 7 minutes to play in the quarter. Kia was able to regain the lead and even extend it back to 9 after Dylan Ababou drained a difficult shot. 

However, just like in the 2nd quarter, Kiefer Ravena led NLEX’s comeback as he scored on a fast break lay-up to tie things up at 85 apiece as Juami Tingson drained a three-pointer to give the Road Warriors their first taste of the lead since the first quarter. Unfortunately, the Picanto was able to end the third quarter with the lead, at 92-90. 

Thre first few minutes of the 4th quarter looked like a see-saw, literally and figuratively as both squads were able to score on each other as the score stayed close unlike in the first half. NLEX actually had multiple chances to take and build a big lead but was only hampered by missed open shots and turnovers. 

Taking advantage of the defensive lapses of NLEX, JR Gallanza scored  5 points on two possessions to make it 106-103 with under 6 minutes to spare. After that, NLEX went on a mini-scoring run to regain the lead, 107-106 only to watch Kia regain the lead on another Camson basket. 

With the score tied at 108 apiece, both teams struggled to score on open opportunities with Kevin Alas getting his fast-break lay-up blocked. Then, with the Picanto down two, Jay-R Reyes attacked his defender, got fouled and calmly drained both charities to tie things up at 111 all with under two minutes to play but Alex Mallari was able to get NLEX back on top with an inside basket. 

After Jay-R Reyes tied the game at 113 all, Larry Fornacier drained a trey while getting fouled and made the ensuing free throw to give NLEX a little cushion with 66 seconds left. Reyes scored on the other end to bring Kia within two as they were able to get the rebound on NLEX’s next possession which led to a fumble. The ball possession remained with the Kia Picanto though although they only had 15 seconds on the game clock. Kia was able to shoot the ball but missed multiple opportunities to tie the score and even turned the ball over with 4.3 seconds left. JR Quinahan iced the game with 2 free throws.

The Numbers

Kiefer Ravena had a phenomenal debut, finishing the game with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 12 assists. Kevin Alas and Michael Miranda added 14 points each for NLEX who shot 51% from the field. 

On the other hand, Kia Picanto had Eric Camson leading them with  24 points while Rashawn McCarthy added 14 points. However, Kia cooled down offensively and only shot 36% from the three-point line.

The scores:

NLEX 119 – Ravena 18, Miranda 14, Alas 14, Mallari 13, Fonacier 12, Al-Hussaini 12, Quinahan 12, Tiongson 11, Baguio 5, Soyud 4, Ighalo 4, Taulava 0.

KIA 115 – Camson 24, McCarthy 14, Corpuz 13, reyes 12, Galanza 12, Celda 9, Ababou 9, Khobuntin 8, Paniamogan 7, Tubid 4, Yee 3, Caperal 0.

Quarter scores:

36-40, 64-68, 90-92, 119-115.

Carlo Lastimosa is Out from NLEX

Here’s why according to Yeng Guiao

While everyone else is already hyped that the PBA’s 43rd season is about to start with the defending champions, San Miguel Beermen opening their title defense against the Phoenix Fuel Masters right after the opening ceremony which will feature each team being led into the court by their respective muses, not everyone is actually looking forward to the opening of the new season. Among those who are not happy are the players who have been dropped by their previous teams due to various reasons.

To begin with, today’s opening of the new season wasn’t even sure until last Wednesday when all 12 team governors, along with Commissioner Chito Narvasa who is rumored to be stepping down from his post soon, held the launching event of the new season. At the very least, it’s sure that PBA fans will have a season to watch out for.

Along with the opening of the new season comes the start of the journey for the rookies who were picked the last draft. While these young rookies have something to look forward to, some players have been bumped from their teams so that these rookies can be accommodated. Painful, isn’t it?

Some of the notable free agents that will have no team come to the opening ceremony later are Chris Ellis, Jonas Villanueva, Chris Lutz and Carlo Lastimosa. Mind you, Jeric Teng is also in the free agent market. But let’s just focus on one player: Carlo Lastimosa. 

Here’s the thing, folks. Carlo Lastimosa, along with Jonas Villanueva- still has a live contract with the  NLEX Road Warriors but he was not included in the official roster that was submitted to the league which means the team that decides to sign Lastimosa will take care of Lastimosa’s existing contract. 

So why Carlo Lastimosa was bumped out of the Road Warriors?

The reason is very much simple- if you will believe Coach Yeng Guiao. According to the coach, the rise of Kevin Alas and the anticipated arrival of the rookie, Kiefer Ravena forced the Road Warriors to unload Lastimosa along with Villanueva. And this move of the Road Warriors will benefit them in the long run especially if Kiefer Ravena stays healthy. 

Conclusion

While it’s sad for Carlo Lastimosa to open the season as a free agent, he shouldn’t lose his focus.Why? He’s still young. He’s still in his prime. Who knows? He might actually land in a championship-contending team. 

Will Kiefer Ravena or Kevin Alas Enough to Replace Terrence Romeo

Young Blood Ravena and Alas Could Replace Terrence, Are they enough?

We are not saying that these two guards are anything less than Terrence Romeo but Terrence Romeo isn’t exactly just your usual point guard.

Aside from his rumored trade request, Terrence Romeo is also currently injured right now and while he comes in and out of the National Squad practice, he is still unable to play.

Terrence is a big part of the National Squad as he is one of the main gunners of the Philippines. His ability to make a shot for his own and courage to shoot under any circumstance has paid dividends and has earned him a spot in the previous Gilas squad. Without Terrence Romeo, the team would have a big space to fill in.

Two NLEX Road Warriors players, however, has been tapped and is part of the 16 man pool that will represent the Philippines against Japan and Taiwan. Kevin Alas and Kiefer Ravena could be tasked to replace Terrence Romeo in the event that Romeo fails to play for the nationals. Both players certainly have the offensive weapons and they have shown that they can deliver the goods to their respective teams.

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Kiefer Ravena is coming off a fresh stint with the Gilas Pilipinas and had taken home gold in the recent South East Asian Games. Ravena is also an incoming rookie for the PBA. On the other hand, Kevin Alas is an established guard for NLEX Road Warriors and his efficient style of plays has recently earned him a new contract with his mother team who, coincidentally, will also be the team, of Kiefer Ravena.

Both players are athletic and possess the offensive prowess to take over a game and create shots if needed. The only question would be is, if their style will be a good fit for the new Gilas team.

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Who would you replace Terrence Romeo with?

Kevin Alas

Kiefer Ravena

No one

Both

Survey Maker

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Acox Delivers the Goods as Star Hotshots Eliminates the Road Warriors to Move to the Semi-Finals

Hotshots barge into semifinals after eliminating NLEX

Paul Lee was the top scorer for the locals

Paul Lee scored 18 points for Star (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

For Yeng Guiao, coaching a team that has been tagged as a considerable underdog against a powerhouse team such as the Star Hotshots is no longer new to him as he already attained years’ worth of experience of coaching underdogs and still, winning. That’s how dangerous the NLEX Road Warriors are despite the absence of a consistent player who can produce big numbers every time. For the Hotshots of Chito Victolero, having the twice-to-beat advantage against the multi-titled Yeng Guiao is a false advantage because he knew as well as the rest of the Star team that NLEX has made significant improvements since Guiao took over at the helm.

Down 2 entering the fourth quarter, the Star Hotshots jumped out firing and took the lead away from the NLEX Road Warriors as they held a double-digit lead during the dying minutes of the game as the Hotshots prevailed, 89-77 to enter the semifinals where they will face the winner of the do-or-die game between the Meralco Bolts and the Blackwater Elite

The game began with both teams starting to find their respective rhythm as NLEX led at 23-22 after the first quarter with Kevin Alas led the scoring chores for the Road Warriors with 8 points. The run-and-gun battle carried over during the opening minutes of quarter number two as Paul Lee, Rafi Reavis, Ian Sangalang and Jio Jalalon all scored on different occasions to put Star up by 7 points, at 34-27 with 8:46 to go in the 2nd quarter. However, Star’s tendency to commit nonsense turnovers hindered their capability to ignite a significant scoring run throughout the first half as the Road Warriors were able to climb right back with timely three-pointers.

Juami Tiongson later scored on a lay-up to tie the score at 37 apiece with under 6 minutes to play and then import Aaron Fuller scored on an offensive rebound to give the lead back to NLEX at 39-37 as Chito Victolero signaled that he wanted a timeout with 4:36 to play in the quarter.

Then, the Hotshots went on a 7-0 scoring run that began on Aldrich Ramos’ 3-pointer that was followed by a dunk by Kris Acox and a running shot by PJ Simon to put Star up by, at 45-43 only to watch JR Quinahan tied it up again with 12 seconds remaining in the first half.

Both imports have failed to make their respective presence felt during the first half as Fuller and Acox scored 10 and 9 respectively. Despite having committed 14 turnovers in the first half alone, the Hotshots stayed close by making half of their 34 shot attempts in the first 24 minutes of the game. Another reason why Star remained in the game was their fastbreak points wich the Hotshots dominated at 8-2 in the first half For their part, the Road Warriors were able to stick around by scoring more off their missed points.

Both imports then started off the scoring for their respective teams to start the second half as Larry Fornacier drilled a trey to put NLEX by 3, 2 minutes into the 3rd quarter. NLEX later increased their lead to 7 on Fuller’s putback. Alex Mallari drained a 3-pointer a few possessions later to put the Road Warriors up by 8 points, at 63-55. However, NLEX’s inconsistency to sustain a scoring run doomed them as Hotshots went on a scoring run on their own to cut the lead down to 63-61 heading into the final quarter.

Star went on an 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter to snatch the lead 69-63 on Kris Acox’s acrobatic lay-up. Star later increased their lead to 8 and NLEX cut it down to 6 on multiple times only for Acox to score on another lay-up off a pass from Marc Pingris to put the Hotshots up by 8 with 7:07 remaining in the game, forcing Yeng Guiao to call a much-needed timeout. Aaron Fuller’s shot with under 6 minutes to go put down the lead at 75-71 only for Paul Lee to make 1 of 2 charities and Marc Pingris to score on a lucky bounce to increase the lead anew to 8 and Paul Lee added another lay-up to give Star its first double-digit lead of the game with under 4 minutes to spare. Paul Lee made another pair of free throws to sustain a 10-point lead for his team with 2:50 play, forcing NLEX to call another timeout.

That appeared to be the turning point as NLEX was plagued with turnovers and fouls as Paul Lee added another jumper to increase the lead to 14 under 2 minutes to go in the game.

Star Hotshots were led by import, Kris Acox who had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Paul Lee finally broke out of his scoring slump, adding 18 points while Ian Sangalang added 14 points. The Star as a team made 52% of their shot attempts as compared to the Road Warriors who only made 39% of their attempts during the entire game.

For the eliminated Road Warriors, Aaron Fuller finished his Governors’ Cup campaign with 16 points to lead his team while former Star player Alex Mallari added 15 points while Kevin Alas finished with 14 on 5 out of 9 shooting.

Scores:

Star – 89

Acox 21, Lee 18, Sangalang 14, Pingris 8, Jalalon 7, Simon 7, Brondial 5, Raamos 3, Barroca 2, Reavis 2, dela Rosa 2, Melton 0, Mendoza 0, Gamalinda 0, Abundo 0,  Pascual 0

NLEX – 77

Fuller 16, Mallari 15, Alas 14, Fornacier 9, Quinahan 6, Tiongson 5, Baguio 5, Rios 4, Al-Hussaini 3, Taulava 0, Monfort 0, Lastimosa 0, Villanueva 0, Soyud 0, Ighalo 0, Gotladera 0

Quarter scores:

22-23, 45-45, 61-63, 89-77

At last Kevin Alas Recognized as Corner Stone and Signed a Well Deserved Contract with NLEX

Kevin Alas Signed a 3-year deal to play for NLEX Road Warriors, Hopefully, this time he will be for keeps

With the second pick of the 2014 PBA, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters picked Kevin Louie Platon Alas from Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

Kevin Alas started his career in the PBA with a promise as he was poised to take over the point guard position of the ROS franchise that suddenly realized that they didn’t want him after all.

Rain or Shine signed the rookie to a three year contract and was supposed to trade the then disgruntled Paul Lee but sudden turn of events changed the scenario as Paul Lee stayed and Kevin Alas was shipped out together with his three year contract to NLEX who at that point did not also want him and traded him to Talk n Text right off the bat.

Side note: Kevin Alas played for NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA D-League and led the team to several championships. 

He ended up playing for Talk n Text for awhile and averaging only 6 points in less than 20 minutes of play for the season. Kevin Alas became a journey man right away as he struggled to find a spot and his true identity as a once sought after player coming from college.

On August 25, 2015, Alas was on the move again to Mahindra, who quickly moved him out back to NLEX Road Warriors. Alas found himself bouncing around teams again and again. These teams probably didn’t see the real value and potential of the young point guard until now.

Advertisement: Click for 52% Off Indoor and Outdoor Basketball free pump, needle and net 

Kevin Alas became one of the corner stones of NLEX Road Warriors, he is part of the now rejuvenated NLEX franchise who could be vying as one of the unexpected teams to win the coveted 2017 PBA Governors Cup Championship.  In 9 games this conference, Alas has averaged 15 points on 47%  FG shooting. This is a far cry from his performance in the initial years of his PBA career but Kevin continued to work on his craft and focused on his game.

Some players take trades personally, others get emotional and frustrated while others take it like a man and use it as fuel to be better. On the onset of Kevin Alas’ career, he has experienced a lot of ups and downs, but the young 25-year old continued to strive and after years of hard work, NLEX Road Warriors rewarded the young talented player with another three-year contract and hopefully this time he will be retained.

Kevin Alas is in his prime and he is in the position to take the NLEX Road Warriors to a new level of success.

Last Trade: Ranidel De Ocampo goes to Meralco Bolts

Photo:  NLEX coach and basketball manager operations Yeng Guiao, team executive Ronald Dulatre, and Agent Charlie Dy.

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Will Kevin Alas be a superstar in the PBA?

Strongly Agree

Yes

He has potential

Maybe

I do not see it yet

I doubt it

No

QuizMaker

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Good Start for NLEX as well as for Kevin Alas who was chosen Player of the Week

Kevin Alas Playing Like the Man for NLEX

To say the least, NLEX is having a bad season thus far as the first two conferences were just horrible for them. Here we are at the last conference of the season and NLEX is looking to end the season on a better note. 

NLEX so far is doing well with two wins in a row at the start of the conference and Kevin Alas was partly the reason why the Road Warriors are starting to look like a different team now. The 25-year-old product of Letran was averaging 7 points last season and could be on the verge for playing his best conference yet. In the first two games, Alas scored an average of 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. He was leading the NLEX local in scoring and was grabbing rebounds even if he is only 6 ft tall. 

Kevin Alas looks to continue his good performance tonight against Rain or Shine.