THOUGH he admits that he and the rest of the NLEX Road Warriors still have a long ways to go, head coach Yeng Guiao is appreciative of the team’s show of “character” in their championship game against sister team Meralco Bolts in the Recoletos Invitational Cup on Friday night.
The Road Warriors found themselves reeling long before the game even started as they got stuck in Cebu’s notorious Friday traffic and arrived late to the arena.
Playing tight and seemingly out-of-sorts, NLEX found themselves trailing by as much as 20 and were still behind by 16, 27-43, at halftime. They eventually overcame that deficit and survived a miraculous three-pointer by the Bolts’ Baser Amer that forced overtime, to prevail, 98-94.
“It makes me very happy that the team is showing character very early in the process,” said Guiao, who was tasked to take over the squad just last month after a successful stint with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
He added that the three-day pocket tournament will serve them well heading to a new PBA season where they expect to encounter their fair share of adversity.
“Our biggest take away in this pocket tournament is that in the face of adversity, we stayed focused and under control,” surmised Guiao.
More than anything, Guiao said that he and the rest of his team appreciated being able to give the Cebuanos who packed the USJ-R Coliseum, a good show.
“We relish the fact that we gave the Cebuanos an enjoyable game.”
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