NLEX guns for an automatic quarterfinals seat and intends to hit that target against a Hong Kong Eastern crew that has its own motive Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A victory by the Road Warriors would give them an even 6-6 record at the end of their elimination round campaign, a card which should be enough to boost them into the last eight notwithstanding the results of the other games.
Actually, Magnolia and Rain or Shine could also wind up with 6-6 slates and create a logjam at No. 7. But after using the PBA quotient as tiebreaker, the Road Warriors are through with the Hotshots and Elasto Painters left to figure in a knockout game for the eighth and last QF berth.
The Road Warriors could lose and fall into a triple tie at 5-7 with the Hotshots and San Miguel Beer. Then the E-Painters grab No. 7 while the former and the Beermen face off for the No. 8 spot.
NLEX head coach Jong Uichico is one to discard the less pleasant scenario, maintaining his team must take care of its own business first. "'Yung ibang teams naglalabanan na for placing, pero kami 'makapasok muna' ang nasa isip," he stated.
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"We don't know kung ano mangyayari sa ibang laro. Ayaw naming umasa sa ibang teams kasi hindi mo naman mako-control ibang laro," added Uichico.
For Uichico, how to deal with Eastern alone is certainly a tough enough task without the additional mental clutter of looking too far ahead.
With a 7-4 record, Eastern still has a chance to figure in the top two mix but it also must win first and hope the other aspirants for a win-once advantage in the next round, 8-3 TNT and 7-3 Meralco, do not get to nine wins.
Should Eastern fail to bounce back from a 78-107 loss to Magnolia last Sunday and drop to 7-5, it could be relegated to as low as No. 7 and a twice-to-win handicap against the No. 2 team in the next round.
Uichico knows the tough work is cut out for his team. "You really have to play above your average kasi Eastern ganoon talaga laro, very consistent sila," he pointed out.
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The grizzled tactician also shrugged off the notion his side could take some pages out of Magnolia's playbook against Eastern. "Iba personnel ng Magnolia, so hindi p'wedeng what they did we can probably do," he explained.
"We cannot duplicate or carbon copy kung ano ginawa ng Magnolia," added Uichico. "The only thing you can do is play the best you can, play hard and hope that you win the game." (NC)
