KEVIN Alas hopes to bury the ghost of the past as NLEX again enjoys the benefit of a twice-to-beat advantage in the PBA Governors Cup playoffs.
The second seeded Road Warriors opened their quarterfinals campaign against no. 7 Alaska, needing just a win to advance to the semis for the first time in four years.
NLEX vs Alaska preview
But the same scenario they faced three years ago ended in a disaster for the franchise.
“It happened to us in 2019. Siguro I’ll try to remind the players na added motivation na hindi na mangyari yung 2019 na we were twice-to-beat, but we were twice beaten,” stressed Alas.
The veteran guard was referring to the Governors’ Cup playoffs three years ago where NLEX was the no. 1 seeded team heading to the playoffs opposite Christian Standhardinger and the eight-seeded NorthPort Batang Pier.
But the Road Warriors’ fate changed in the quarterfinals as they lost consecutive games against the Batang Pier, including their classic do-or-die outing that went into triple overtime, 126-123.
Alas had barely recovered from his second ACL injury back then and was only playing his fifth game with the team, but admitted the misfortune still stings the franchise until this day.
It didn’t help the team’s cause any that former big men Poy Erram and back up wingman Paul Varilla were suspended for the knockout game against NorthPort following their hits against import Michael Qualls.
The incident wasn’t lost on Alas.
“We have to be extra smarter. Alam naman natin na merong nangyari na away (noon), so we have to be extra smarter. Hindi puwedeng magpadala sa emosyon,” he said.
Save for Erram, Kiefer Ravena, Larry Fonacier, and Jericho Cruz, majority of the NLEX players still remains with the team now that Alas believes everybody will be on the same page as they try to get past that horrible incident.
“So kailangan motivated kami kahit sino man ang kalaban,” said the son of former PBA coach Louie Alas.
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