Is it confidence or complacency?

That’s what Converge head coach Aldin Ayo told his wards when they notched their first back-to-back win at the start of the season, asking whether the series of victories will make them better or will they fall to the same trap that a young team like them would typically fall into.

Three games in since he asked his players that question and their answers have been clear and firm. It was definitely confidence and the FiberXers were oozing with it.

Without high-scoring import Quincy Miller who was ejected late in the first half, Converge just blew past the NLEX, 108-84, with guys like Jeron Teng, Aljun Melecio and even defensive specialist Kevin Racal making solid contributions.

Melecio took on the scoring cudgels in the final frame while Teng and Racal held the fort defensively against the Road Warriors import Earl Clark who they limited to just 15 points and a measly minus-21 in efficiency ratio.

For Ayo, the winning streak is just the product of the work his charges have been putting in during their practice

“They deserve it. They have been working really, really hard during the practices. They owe it to themselves. They deserve to play well because of their work ethic and being coachable na maglaro within the system and yung pagiging fundamentally sound,” said Ayo

“We have to give credit to JT and Kracs for neutralizing Clark. They took that responsibility to really stop him and of course the rest of the players, they stuck with our game plan especially on defense,” he added.

With the win, Converge had now strung five consecutive victories – tied for the longest streak so far in the conference. Ayo, however, refused to read too much on the winning run, noting that it’s still a long way to go in the eliminations.

“To early to tell nasa elimination pa lang tayo especially kami five-straight wins pero yung mga nakalaban namin hindi naman kumpleto,” said the rookie PBA coach.

“(Meralco) wala si Chris Newsome, San Miguel wala si June Mar so di naman talaga iyon makkuku-consider na we won because talagang nanalo kami. May mga kulang pa, eliminations palang ito eh long way to go,” he added.

Still, it was already a notable feat for someone who is making his first conference in the big league, more so, scoring victories over much seasoned coaches in Chot Reyes, Norman Black and Leo Austria.

But just like what he had asked his players during the start of the winning run, the same question is begging for an answer, from this day forward, will Converge become more confident? Or will they finally fall to the trap of complacency?