JONG Uichico offered no excuses for NLEX’s 28-point blowout loss to Barangay Ginebra.
It’s just that the Kings were the better team than the Road Warriors on Tuesday night in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
“They just outplayed us from the start, they outrun us, they outhustled us,” said the NLEX coach. “That’s why they built that lead na hindi na kami naka-recover.”
READ Holt finds groove as Ginebra sends NLEX crashing back to earth
Truly, the Road Warriors never got out of the doldrums the moment the Kings began their separation early in the game.
NLEX was down by 21 points by halftime and then trailed by as much as 33 points early in the fourth quarter.
“We did not do what we’re supposed to do and they took advantage of that,” Uichico noted. “It happens and we don’t want it to happen."
It was a totally shocking outcome for a team that is coming to the game on a high following its 112-108 overtime win over mighty San Miguel Beer side over the weekend in Cagayan de Oro City.
The Road Warriors could do nothing right against the Kings, who drew the best game so far from new acquisition Stephen Holt in a Ginebra uniform with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, 20 and eight boards from Maverick Ahanmisi, and a relatively quiet 13-7-9 stats line from import Justine Brownlee.
“We’ll not find reasons why we lost the game except that they outplayed, us, outrun us. They shot very well, we could not defend and we could not score at the same time. So that’s the story of the game,” said Uichico, who refuses to blame the fatigue factor for the team's lackluster play.
“Even if we’re tired, if we could have just defended, hindi ko sinasabing mananalo kami, but it may not be a 30-point game. And that’s what makes you feeling worse because it’s a 30-point loss,” he added.
“Kung maganda yung nilaro mo at natalo ka, baka matanggap mo pa. But no, we just got outplayed, outhustled, out lahat.”
The loss was the second in five outings for the Road Warriors, who nonetheless kept second place in Group B behind the undefeated Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
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