RAIN or Shine is such an excellent defensive team that it was a risk for NLEX whether to call for time or go for a possible game winner outright.
The Road Warriors chose the latter and went down against Rain or Shine, 83-82, in their PBA Philippine Cup debut Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Kiefer Ravena said he’ll live with his decision not to sue for a timeout, aware the Elasto Painters are so good defensively they could set-up and anticipate the game-winning play the Road Warriors would make in the waning seconds of the closely fought game.
Unfortunately, Anthony Semerad failed to convert on his shot that was contested he needed to make a double pump with a second left to go, giving Rain or Shine the win and negating a big NLEX comeback from nine points down early in the fourth quarter.
“I had that in mind (timeout), but it was fast break. Rain or Shine is a good defensive team. You don’t want to give them a chance to set up. Pag nag-timeout ka, back to zero lahat, so that’s what I had in mind,” said Ravena, the one responsible for giving the Road Warriors a final shot at turning the game around when he stole the ball from Gabe Norwood with 10 seconds left.
“Everything is in hindsight once you call a timeout. You’ll never know what’s gonna happen anymore,” added the fourth-year playmaker. “I’ll live and die with my teammates, with their decisions. This is what we’re here for.”
Loss negates solid play
The loss somehow put to naught Ravena’s stats line of 23 points – a team high – four rebounds, seven assists, and three steals as the Road Warriors began their season campaign with a loss for the second straight time in a bubble.
But Ravena definitely likes what he saw with the way NLEX played.
“I would say that we will take the small victories. We definitely performed a lot better than our first game in the bubble (last year). Ang importante kasi ay nakundisyon na ang lahat. Hopefully, everybody can stay healthy and improve from now on.”
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