AFTER more than eight months, Kevin Alas finally got to play competitive basketball on Friday night, making his long-awaited comeback for NLEX in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Too bad, the Road Warriors ended up on the losing end against Rain or Shine.
Alas played almost 30 minutes in his first game back from an ACL injury but couldn’t save the day for NLEX which absorbed a 96-87 beating against the Elasto Painters at the Astrodome.
The fifth-year guard finished with 12 points and four assists in a game Rain or Shine dominated three-fourths of the way.
“Disappointing kasi I wanted talaga to win this game, but Rain or Shine was the better team today,” said Alas afterwards.
The former Letran star admitted having some butterflies in his stomach on the eve of his match, adding he felt like a rookie starting all over again.
“Kagabi hindi ako makatulog sa sobrang excited,” he said.
Although he already looked good and healthy running on both ends of the floor, Alas said his conditioning still has a lot to be desired.
“I felt comfortable naman kanina, pero siguro yung hangin ko kulang pa kasi iba yung hangin na nakukuha mo sa game compared sa practices. So kanina I felt kulang na kulang pa ako sa hangin,” he stressed.
Despite the loss, Alas’ return from injury is one of the bright spots in NLEX’s campaign in the season-opening conference.
“I’m happy for Kevin because he’s physically ready,” said coach Yeng Guiao “He just needs to get his timing back, he just needs to get his rhythm back. I think there’s a lot of upsides to our team this conference.”
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