Kevin Alas ‘like a rookie again’ in long-awaited NLEX return

MANILA, Philippines – The NLEX Road Warriors opened their 2019 Philippine Cup campaign with an 87-96 loss to Rain or Shine, but one of them still came home a winner: Kevin Alas.

The 27-year old point guard appeared in his first PBA game since going down with an ACL tear 10 months ago and finished with 12 points off the bench in 29 minutes.

It was a special moment for the former 2014 2nd overall pick, who admitted he felt like starting all over again.

“I was so excited last night. I was sleepless from excitement, I felt like a rookie again,” he said after the game. “But it’s also disappointing because I wanted to win this game. Rain or Shine was the better team today.”

“It felt good but of course, I wanted the win because we’ve been doing well in the off-season,” he continued. “They were the better team personally. But for me personally, it felt good because I was away for 8-10 months.”

With Kiefer Ravena still serving his longtime FIBA suspension, NLEX and National Team coach Yeng Guiao was just happy that he got one of his backcourt stalwarts back in the rotation.

“I’m happy for Kevin because he’s physically ready. He just needs to get his rhythm back,” he said. “But I think there’s a lot of upside to our team this conference.”

As for Alas, he feels that he needs more games to once again gel with his teammates, especially after a very long layoff.

“Sa tingin ko [kulang] sa effort eh kasi we were outrebounded, outhustled,” he said. “Nakita namin yung free throws daming [pagkukulang] eh. Yung chemistry nga ng team namin, we have to improve on that pa.”

(I think we still lack effort because we were outrebounded and outhustled. We also saw a lack in the free throw shooting. In terms of team chemistry, we also have to improve on that.) – Rappler.com