NLEX coach Yeng Guiao is hoping that the suspension of the PBA Philippine Cup won’t have a negative effect on his team once the games in the elimination round resume.
The Road Warriors split their four games before the league decided to put the season-opening conference on pause due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine regulations imposed in Metro Manila.
Plans are for the PBA to restart later this month, likely in Guiao’s hometown of Pampanga, but only after the teams train for one week.
For Guiao, he’s hoping that the team can overcome the challenges of the ongoing break in hopes of putting itself in a good position to make a deep playoff run.
“I still feel that maybe if we’re able to win five or six games, we’ll be around the middle of the pack. Then, if you’re able to pick it up towards the quarterfinals, maybe you have a chance to make the semifinals,” Guiao said during an online session on the Road Warriors’ Facebook page Tuesday, Aug. 10.
“(But) it really depends on which team will gain momentum, kasi sa sitwasyon ngayon ang hirap mag-gain ng momentum so we’ll see what happens,” he added.
Two of NLEX’s matches in the Philippine Cup came defending champion Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer, teams Guiao considers as among the favorites to win it all.
The results were mixed, with NLEX blowing out Ginebra, 94-75, last July 18 but lost 110-93 to SMB five days later.
The Road Warriors have to play the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots and TNT, the two other squads Guiao listed as teams to beat. Both are unbeaten with the Hotshots at 4-0 and the Tropang Giga at 3-0.
NLEX’s other games were an 83-82 defeat to Rain or Shine in the season opener last July 16 and a 108-94 drubbing of winless Terrafirma last July 25.