KIEFER Ravena found an early gauge of how he personally stacks up against quality PBA competition in Gilas Pilipinas’ tune-up game against Alaska on Saturday.
The amateur star registered 14 points, three assists, one board, one steal, and the dagger three-pointer from the right wing that gave Gilas the lead for good on the way to a 120-117 victory.
And knowing that he made a good account of himself, Ravena admitted that it will factor in his anticipated decision to finally put his name in the bowl of rookie aspirants this year.
“Of course,” the 23-year-old cager said when asked about thriving in the PBA style of play. “Being in this kind of competition, it's also for me personally to see where I am, to see what to improve on.”
“And it helps me in making a decision for the draft,” he added.
[See Ravena hits go-ahead basket vs Alaska as Gilas stays perfect in tune-ups]
For now, faring admirably as a unit against the perennial-contending Aces, despite in a mere friendly, augurs well for the Nationals as they swept their three tune-up games in preparation for the Jones Cup in Taiwan next week.
“Well that's a good test for us,” Ravena said ahead of their flight to Taipei on Friday. “It's nice to be part of close games to see and to test who we are, and kung nasaan pa yung mga pwede pa namin i-improve.”
“At least yung progression ng game namin, dahan-dahan – from a terrible first game, to a better second game, and ngayon, after a tough Alaska team, kahit papaano, we were able to grind one out,” he added as Gilas won their three tune-up games by an average of 2.7 points.
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