NLEX coach Jong Uichico knows all too well not to get carried away with the Road Warriors’ early success into their build-up for the PBA 50th Season.
The Road Warriors captured the 2025 Kadayawan Invitational Basketball Tournament after a 101-84 win over Blackwater in the title game last Sunday at the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City.
READ: Hot-shooting NLEX beats Blackwater to win Kadayawan title
Overall, NLEX only lost once in the Davao tournament also participated by Converge and Phoenix. The Road Warriors lone defeat came at the hands of the Bossing when they lost a 17-point lead to go down, 95-90.
Uichico said it is still too early to tell that their performance would translate into the coming Philippine Cup.
“Decent naman ang performance namin. We need to do better,” said Uichico, winners of nine titles in the PBA, when asked for his assessment about NLEX's performance in the Davao pocket tourney.
NLEX is looking to pick up where it left off during the season-ending Philippine Cup during the 49th season where they ended the eliminations at second place with an 8-3 win-loss record.
The Road Warriors, however, lost to a more experienced playoff team in Rain or Shine despite a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
In the Kadayawan tilt that serves as preparation for the 50th season opener Philippine Cup, NLEX won a pair of games during the preliminaries, beating Converge, 95-88, and Phoenix, 100-96.
If the Davao tournament will be the basis, three-point shooting will be a weapon for NLEX for the coming Philippine Cup after shooting 18-of-34 from the outside in the title game.
Consistency in making the threes will be vital after NLEX averaged 12.75 threes for the entire tournament.
One of the top performers for NLEX was Tony Semerad, who was named as the Finals MVP after tallying 16 points and 12 rebounds while making four three-pointers in the championship match-up.
Xyrus Torres also hit four threes for the Road Warriors in the final game against the Bossing on his way to tallying 19 points.
Of course, Robert Bolick will continue to become the primary weapon of the Road Warriors after averaging 17.75 points during the Kadayawan tournament.
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