WITH only a few days to go before the start of the 2017-18 PBA season, the NLEX Road Warriors still have a lot of difficult decisions to make as they still need to cut four players from their pre-season roster.
After playing in a three-day pocket tournament with Phoenix, Rain or Shine, and Alaska, NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao is close to making few of those decisions.
"Yung tournament na ito is also a factor in our decision on who will stay in our final lineup. That's why all four teams are trying to give their players a chance to show what they can do," the coach explained. "I think we can make decisions already."
One of the guys fighting for a spot in the team is veteran Ronjay Buenafe, a player who's very familiar with Guiao.
"Ang laking pagkakataon para sa akin kung makalaro ako ulit under coach Yeng. Yun din kasi yung lagi kong pinagdadasal e," Buenafe said. "Masarap yung feeling na makasama ulit siya kasi alam mo na yung ugali, alam na rin niya kung paano ka gamitin."
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The first few conferences with NLEX have been bumpy for the seasoned mentor but they improved vastly in the 2017 PBA Governors' Cup as Guiao started collecting some of the players he has coached before.
It's no surprise that Buenafe is flanked by veterans who are familiar with Guiao's style in the pre-season with players such as Larry Fonacier, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, JR Quinahan, Jonathan Uyloan, and Cyrus Baguio also in the team.
Buenafe understands why Guiao surrounded himself with guys he's familiar with as it will help hasten the development of the younger players as they'll have veterans to mentor them.
"Kami yung nagsasabi sa kanila na dapat ganito, dapat ganiyan. Tinuturuan namin para madaling maintindihan nung mga bata yung mga gustong mangyari ni coach Yeng," Buenafe explained.
At 34 years old, the shooter knows that he only has a few years left in him. Like Baguio, the best case scenario for him is to also finish his career with the coach that helped him become a star in the PBA.
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"Iba kasi yung pagmamahal ni coach Yeng sa mga players niya kaya marami sa amin gustong bumalik sa kanya. Pinaglalaban talaga niya. So kami, paglalaban rin namin siya kahit saan makarating," Buenafe said. "Gusto ko lang mag-champion pa sana. Gusto ko kay coach Yeng matapos." (Carlo Pamintuan)
