WHY STOP NOW?
Entering the playoffs for the first time in its young PBA life, NLEX is looking to make an impact deep into the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
But before they could achieve it, the Road Warriors first have to go through sister team Meralco.
Coach Boyet Fernandez, however, vowed to leave no stones unturned in shutting the door on the Bolts.
That is proving to be an interesting subplot as the newcomers test the Bolts in Game 1 of their best-of-three quarterfinal series Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Game time is at 4:15 p.m.
Fernandez said that despite their affiliation with the MVP group, the Road Warriors will hold no punches against the Bolts when they cross paths.
“That will be the mentality of NLEX, kahit sino ang kalaban, patayan kami. They really want to win and gusto din namin makapasok ng semifinals. Pareho lang kami, but my players want to prove something,” he said. “We will not stop here. Hopefully, we can get a slot in the semifinals.”
With NLEX finishing fourth in the eliminations, Fernandez said that he’s quite happy with his squad’s performance this second conference, given their 10th place finish in the Philippine Cup.
“Ang una naming goal is to make it to the top eight. Ok na tayo na pumasok ng quarters, pero bakit di pa natin i-achieve yung kaya nating i-achieve,” he said.
After seeing their winning run stop at five with a loss to Barako Bull last Tuesday, Fernandez said, “This playoffs will separate the boys from the men. Sana magising kami. I hope we learned our lessons here. I told the boys that with this loss, you erased the five games that you played very well.”
Meralco is also experiencing a funk of its own, as it dropped its last three assignments and lost five of its last six after opening the conference at 5-0.
Though both teams are tied at 6-5, NLEX will have the number four-seed after the Road Warriors beat Meralco in its elimination meeting, 89-76. Bolts reinforcement Josh Davis was still nursing his lower back injury in that game.
With that being said, Fernandez is cautious of the challenge a healthy Davis poses.
“It worries me a lot that Davis is already 100 percent. If we’re gonna play the same way we did against Barako, di kami mananalo sa Meralco,” he said. (RL)
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