THAT Jansen Rios played one of his best games in the PBA hardly brought cheer to the journeyman after NLEX suffered an 81-89 loss to Mahindra on Friday night.
The former Adamson standout finished with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals against the Bolts, but was a picture of frustration after NLEX sunk to its third successive defeat in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
"Hindi lang frustration eh. Halos lahat nandoon na. Inis, galit. Kaya minsan sa practice, seryoso talaga eh," said the third-round pick of NLEX in the 2015 rookie draft.
The 6-3 forward was also at a loss to explain why an NLEX team that plays so well in practice couldn't bring the same form into games.
"Ang galing namin sa practice, lahat ng tira pumapasok. Pero di namin ma-translate (into a win) sa game. Siguro mental talaga. Kailangan may switch on," he said.
"May iba, parang nape-pressure na. Gusto magpakita, gusto bawat tira pasok, kaya minsan nawawala na rin," he continued.
Rios vowed to do everything to help turn around the flondering franchise.
"Sa amin naman, hindi lang talaga (scoring). Pag pinasok ka, dapat ibigay ang best mo. Di importante kung score ka lang ng score. Maka-contribute ka lang, ganun lang."