KIEFER Ravena just took his first loss in the PBA and is trying to process the most out of it.
“You take the good with the bad,” Ravena said on Sunday night after Phoenix Petroleum clamped down hard in NLEX’s super rookie and held him to just eight points — his pro career low — that helped doom the Road Warriors to their first loss in the Philippine Cup.
“There were a lot of things to be learned tonight,” the 6-foot guard went on as he was met by girlfriend, volleyball superstar Alyssa Valdez, just outside of the NLEX locker room at Smart Araneta Coliseum, where all the fans were waiting.
“And the biggest thing there was that I know that you can’t be passive in this league. You just can’t go out there and turn it on when you want it.”
Ravena said that he tried pacing himself in the first half, knowing that the defense was on him right from the start.
But when the going got rough in the third period, Phoenix already had his number and he couldn’t do much about it.
And he was even more helpless in the fourth, when the Fuel Masters opened up a 17-point lead and practically decided the outcome with a lot of time left.
After coming into the game shooting close to 19 points and handing out 8.5 assists in the first two NLEX victories, it was clearly Ravena’s worst game, and it immediately brought him back to Mother Earth with a loud thud.
“I will have to prepare even better for different situations,” he said after shooting 4-for-13 from the field. “I have no excuses. I shot poorly and that didn’t help the team at all.”
Ravena was processing everything while he talked and, instead on dwelling how he was made to look just like most rookies in the league, immediately pointed out that there’s a lot of work to be done.
“We have a string of tough games ahead, against very strong teams,” the former UAAP MVP and champion with Ateneo said. “Better get ready for those teams. It will be even harder for all of us.”
Fans have seen the best and worst of Ravena in just three pro games, and it would be interesting to see how he bounces back.