CLARK, Pampanga - After losing the game against the Alaska Aces in overtime on Monday, the NLEX Road Warriors knew that their fate was no longer in their hands. Although there was still a chance that they'd get a crack at the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for a knockout match for the final playoff spot, they knew winning against Alaska was their golden opportunity to turn their conference completely around.
"I just told the players to manage their expectations," said NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao after finishing their 2020 PBA Philippine Cup campaign with a 127-101 win over TerraFirma Dyip. "There were too many things that we needed to happen and most of it was beyond our control already."
The Road Warriors were eager spectators in the game between the TNT Tropang Giga and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Tuesday. NLEX needed to win their game against the Dyip and Rain or Shine to lose its games against TNT and Phoenix Super LPG to force a knockout match for the eighth spot.
However, TNT decided to rest Jayson Castro (knee soreness) and Ryan Reyes (back spasms) as they were virtually guaranteed of a top four spot even with a loss due to their superior quotient against all the other teams that could be involved in the 7-4 win-loss tally tie.
"We were playing our best basketball before we faced Alaska," lamented Guiao. "And we also played a very good game against them that went into overtime. We lost because of some breaks of the game. When you lose a game and take your fate out of your control, you have no right to demand anything from the other teams. I told my players just to manage their expectations. If things go our way, then we'll celebrate it but if it doesn't, we can't complain about it."
The Road Warriors will exit the PBA bubble on Thursday in what Guiao considers the best consolation prize as they'll get to see their families once again and go back to their respective routines.
"There's a part of me that's still torn. I would have loved to stay and compete in the playoffs but I'm excited to go home to my family," Guiao said.
The Pampanga-native is proud of the PBA's handling of the entire competition and prouder of the fact that his province hosted it. Now Guiao adds a new experience to his illustrious career.
"One of my realizations was that the PBA Bubble was like being in a training camp with 12 other teams. So to be able to stay in one hotel with 11 teams you're competing with and there's wasn't a single untoward incident that happened," Guiao said. "You get to know more about your team but also more about the other teams because you run into them at the hotel and in the elevator, maybe even have a quick chat."
The multi-titled mentor will miss another opportunity to win the only title that has escaped his grasp in the Philippine Cup. However, he can't wait to buckle down to business and start preparing for the next one, knowing what he knows now.
"We were in great condition seven months ago but, heading into the PBA Bubble, we lost all of that," he admitted. "When we got here, we only had nine players for a week so we could not even do our scrimmages. When the other six players got here, we had to wait for a few more days due to the quarantine measures. I think we missed out on a lot during that week."
Asked whether he thinks the next competition of the PBA will be held in another bubble setup, Guiao answered he'd prefer it wasn't.
"We miss the fans," he said. "But we also know it's beyond our control. What's good is that we now have options. If there's a vaccine and it allows us to have 50% capacity in the venues, then we should do that. If we need to do another bubble, then at least we already know what it takes to pull it off and we can even improve on the things that we did here."