NLEX bevy of guards step up to fill in void of injured Alas

THE void left by injured guard Kevin Alas was a huge shoes to fill for the NLEX Road Warriors.Coach Frankie Lim said the loss of the 32-year-old Alas to another case of ACL meant a huge adjustment on the plays of the Road Warriors, since the Gilas Pilipinas stalwart is their primary player on the pick and roll.

“It’s pretty hard because we always used Kevin for our pick and role plays. And right now, we don’t have that kind of player to execute our pick and roll,” said Lim.

But the Road Warriors were able to survive their first outing minus their team captain as Don Trollano stepped in and took care of business in a 112-104 win over Northport that evened their record at 2-2 in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Trollano finished with 29 points, including 18 in the first half, to set the tone of the match

He was also 4-of-9 from three-point range.

“I want Don to get started early to get his rhtyhm. And maganda naman kapag pumasok yung first few shots niya dumidiretso naman, streak shooter talaga,” he said of the guard out of Adamson.
Trollano though, is not the only one who stepped up in the absence of Alas.
There was also Fil-Am guard Rob Herndon who added eight points, rookie Richie Rodger who was part of the starting unit and contributed seven, and sophomore Hesed Gabo, who played extended minutes tending the backcourt.

“Rob Herndon did very well, same with Don. And Richie Rodgers. Solid game from them,” Lim acknowledged.”I think my guards have to step up like Hesed Gabo sometime playing the point. I think yung non-execution of our plays was also sa leadership ng point guards namin inside the court. And we will address that in practice.”