NLEX coach Jong Uichico understandably has some points to ponder about his team's most recent loss. But he refuses to dwell on those for too long.
Not when the Road Warriors are set to tangle with the revitalized Blackwater Bossing at 5p.m. Friday in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Blackwater is out to notch a third straight win and improve to 3-3 in Group B while NLEX aims to get back on track following a 91-119 loss to Barangay Ginebra last Tuesday that dropped the Road Warriors to a 3-2 slate.
While touching a little on what went wrong in the game against the Gin Kings, Uichico is simply glad the defeat came after his side was able to pull off a 112-108 overtime win over San Miguel Beer in Cagayan de Oro
"Siyempre there are teams that you really do not match up well against, di ba? Parang ganoon nangyari against Ginebra. That's how it is talaga," said Uichico.
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"Mabuti na lang nanalo kami sa San Miguel, better than losing both games. We'll just look forward to the game against Blackwater. Let us see if we can come up with a win."
NLEX actually beat Blackwater, 104-87, the first time they met last Aug. 22. But that was when the Bossing still had Ricky Ledo, who was also ineffective in an initial loss to Rain or Shine, as import.
After giving Ledo the pink slip and playing without a reinforcement against SMB, George King has come in and powered Blackwater to back-to-back wins over Ginebra and Phoenix Super LPG.
"They're a different team than doon sa unang laro namin. Very dominating import 'yung import nila so ganado mga (local) players maglaro dahil alam nila na maasahan 'yung import, unlike in our first game," noted Uichico.
Bossing coach Jeff Cariaso is certainly hoping his team can continue its surge in the second half of the 10-game intragroup format.
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"We're gonna use the momentum to get us going in the second half. We know we have to play everybody all over again, but we're excited for that," said Cariaso.
After averaging 38.5 points and 16 rebounds in his first two games, King sure looks like the perfect reinforcement for Blackwater and his efforts are clearly rubbing off on his teammates.
Foremost among those taking the cue from King are Sedrick Barefield, Troy Rosario, Christian David and even RK Ilagan.
"I think we're starting to pick it up a little bit more and just paying more attention to details, trusting each other a little more," said Barefield, who set a career-high 32 points against the Fuel Masters. (NC)
