NLEX Road Warriors’ Garvo Lanete drives to the basket against Victor Nuñez of the Cebu Landmasters in Recoletos Invitational Cup. The the tournament concluded last Friday with the Road Warriors bagging the crown at the expense of sister team Meralco Bolts. (CDN PHOTO/RABBONI BORBON)
With the glut of guards that the NLEX Road Warriors have on their roster, Garvo Lanete may have just carved out a role for himself with his heads-up play against the Meralco Bolts in the finals of the Recoletos Invitational Cup on Friday night.
With the game hanging in the balance and his team trailing, 83-85, in overtime, Lanete went berserk and scored 14 of NLEX’s 15 points during that stretch which eventually made the difference in the 98-94 win.
He first made a triple to put NLEX in front for good, 86-85, before later adding another for a five-point Road Warriors lead. Meralco pulled to within two, 88-90, but Lanete shut the door on the bolts with a layup and six straight free-throws.
Afterwards, Lanete expressed his relief and happiness that they were able to pull off the lead in spite of trailing by as much as 20 early in the game.
“I just kept playing lang and took the open shots that were available and play defense as well. I’m just glad sinuwerte ako sa overtime last night at napasok ko yung mga tira at crucial free-throws ko,” said Lanete, the sixth pick of the 2015 draft.
Lanete also shared that he’s happy that they were able to turn things around after a horrendous first half performance that saw them fall behind by as much as 20.
“Na-late kami kasi sobrang traffic so konting time lang mag-warm up. Tight kaming lahat nung first half. Then nung second half, we got our feet back and we focused on getting stops and our goal was ibaba yung lamang to under 10 at the end of third. But lucky enough natabla namin entering the fourth,” Lanete said.
NLEX appeared to have the win in the bag until Meralco’s Baser Amer canned a miraculous three-pointer as time expired in the fourth to tie the game at 83-all. Lanete said that it was just as well, as it gave the rabid Cebuano basketball fans five more minutes of intense PBA action.
“Oo nga e, tapos na sana yun. Okay din naman yun kasi para sulit din sa mga tao na nanood. Happy ka din makita sila na happy. Kasi syempre gusto ng mga tao maganda yung game.”
With four other guards on the roster, namely Emman Monfort, Kevin Alas, Jonas Villanueva and the newly-acquired Carlo Lastimosa, NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao said that Lanete is a perfect weapon to have for what he wants to accomplish this season.
“Garvo is tailor-made for the system that we run. He can drive to the basket and has good range from the outside. He’s smart and steady. He’s a combo guard able to play the one or the two. I’m also happy with his defense because of the energy he brings and the ability to contain his man.”
In spite of the good early returns for NLEX in the new Guiao era, Lanete vowed to keep on learning their new head coach’s system.
“We’re adapting and embracing the system really well. Not perfect yet, but we will keep working on it,” Lanete said.
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