Road rage

Time to man up.
(Photo credit: Spin.ph)

We don't know about you, but it would be wise to be on a "Yeng Guiao watch" from here on out.

The NLEX Road Warriors are still winless in the ongoing PBA Commissioner's Cup despite Guiao's old hand Wayne Chism's stellar numbers (39mpg 26ppg 17rpg 2apg) all across the boards. Last conference, we gave NLEX a pass because it was Guiao's first with the team. Now, well, we aren't really seeing any improvements.

Hell, they seem to have gotten worse.



Sean Anthony, the team's leading double-double machine, is getting roughly the same minutes but has ran into a brick wall. This is why we always brought his name up in trade scenarios; though his game is suited for the Ph Cup as a hybrid 4, his inability to shoot from the outside or handle the rock will render him useless as local centers slide down to 4 and imports come in at 5.

Carlo Lastimosa (17-8-1-1) and Kevin Alas (20-8-3-2) have done a great job in carrying the fight from the perimeter, but their inexperience still shows during crunch time. Alas defers while Lastimosa simply goes back to his iso-ways. Moving forward, we'd love for Alas to start playing like a true point guard and really pull in the reins with his young backcourt buddy.

They're like a modern day Junthy Valenzuela and Lordy Tugade combo for Guiao, save for the fact that those old Red Bulls wards had a full PBL-to-PBA transition to really work on their on-court chemistry.

For their bigs... they're playing hard, but no one seems to be ready to step up and throw a few elbows. Glenn Khobuntin and Eric Camson look like bangers, sure, but they need to really make sure that they are felt (literally) by opposing teams.

Then there's newly-acquired Rabeh Al-Hussaini (18-7-3-1).

From a skills-standpoint, he is the perfect fit for Guiao's system.

He has good size, great hands, money jumper, post-up skills, face-up skills. You name an offensive skill, and Al-Hussaini has it down pat.

What he doesn't have, is the willingness to get hurt. To bang. To fight for rebounds. To hustle.

And most of the time, those are the things that could catapult nobodies into somebodies in the pros. Not the wet jumper or smooth footwork. Care to disagree? Marc Pingris says "Hi."

So what's next for NLEX?

Well, we are waiting for that shake-up that Coach Yeng promised and this team badly needs.

Asi Taulava, Sean Anthony and even Jonas Villanueva... it's time to move on. We don't really buy Coach Yeng's claims that there are no takers for some of his guys. That only "water boys" are being offered. Heck no. We honestly feel that Coach Yeng would trade them in a heartbeat if he could, only that now that he's part of a "big money" team, he's learning that he only has up to a certain amount of control, roster-wise.

How else could you explain NLEX's signing of Juami Tiongson, another guard, when they needed bigs and or wings?

We'd still build around the young talent: Alas, Lastimosa, Garvo Lanete, Camson, Khobuntin, Al Hussaini, Bradwyn Guinto and Raul Soyud.

The rest, unmentioned, are fair game.

#Tankingfor2017PBADraft