The untouchables
Jimmy Alapag continued his unbeaten run as NLEx’s rookie coach on Sunday by handing well-experienced San Miguel Beer a convincing rout.
And their 110-96 win in the PBA Governors’ Cup could go a long way for this Road Warriors squad that is trying to establish themselves as legitimate title contenders and dismiss the old notion of being a squad that is just used to starting out strong.
“I think anytime you play a team like San Miguel, with all their championship experience, it’s always a great test for a young team,” Alapag said after guiding the Road Warriors to a fourth straight win and the solo lead in Group A.
NLEx jumped on San Miguel in the opening quarter with its fast-paced tempo, with import DaQuan Jones and Schonny Winston, who had 24 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, among the catalysts.
Road Warriors mainstays Robert Bolick, Tony Semerad and even Enoch Valdez joined the fray to build a commanding 25-point lead before holding off a pair of tries by the Beermen to pull off a comeback.
‘Very resilient’
“I thought we were very resilient, especially in the second half,” said Alapag after NLEx weathered off the San Miguel resistance aided by the shooting of Don Trollano.
“Trollano is one of the best shooters in the league and he got going, but I thought our poise in the second half was great for the young team that we have,” continued Alapag. “We were able to get stops and score when we needed to, to get the win.”
Only unbeaten squad
NLEx is the lone unbeaten team from any of the two groups, and is keen on keeping it going amid more challenges looming.
Up next for the Road Warriors are the Converge FiberXers on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena before taking on the TNT Tropang 5G on Aug. 4 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Alapag’s first meeting against his former club, the one he starred for and helped win championships in a legendary career during the 2000s and early-2010s.
Jones topscored for NLEx with 27 points on top of 10 rebounds and two blocks, Semerad pumped in 15 points from five triples despite his knee banging with Mo Tautuaa in the first half, while Bolick came close to a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.
San Miguel dropped to 3-1 with import George King being the only consistent man on offense with 31 points, with Trollano and June Mar Fajardo adding 16 and 15 points, respectively.
The Beermen lost in front of coach Leo Austria, who finally showed up this conference after missing the first three games due to an illness.
Austria, however, opted to sit behind the bench and let assistant coach Peter Martin call the shots anew for the Beermen.
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
