NLEX’s campaign in the 45th PBA season beginning with the Philippine Cup will be a little tougher since the Road Warriors no longer have Poy Erram, their main man in the middle.
However, that doesn’t mean they can’t compete without the 6-foot-9 center, as the Yeng Guiao-mentored team have Kiefer Ravena and backcourt partner Kevin Alas, who led them to the semifinals in the All-Filipino Conference in 2018.
“We don’t have Poy at that time,” said Alas, referring to the time they went toe-to-toe against Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok in the seven-game semifinal series of the Philippine Cup.
“Our frontcourt lineup was JR (Quinahan), Mike (Miranda), Raul Soyoud, and kuya Asi (Taulava), basically the frontline we have now but we managed to make it to the semifinals.”
Alas went down with an ACL tear in Game 5, and the Road Warriors lost to the Hotshots in six games.
The team obtained the services of Erram in a trade with Blackwater prior to last season, but the Road Warriors struggled as Alas reinjured his knee while Ravena served a FIBA-sanctioned suspension.
NLEX topped the Governors’ Cup last season with Erram, Ravena, and Alas – who recovered from the injury – but the team lost twice to NorthPort in the quarterfinals despite carrying a twice-to-beat advantage.
Last Thursday, the league’s five-man trade committee approved a three-team deal with Erram at the centerpiece as he went to TNT, which originally tabbed him in the 2013 rookie draft only to lose him the following year to Blackwater via the expansion draft.
“Sayang talaga because Poy is an important piece for us. He’s our rim protector,” said Ravena.
Guaio said they have to find ways to make sure that the remaining players he has in the Road Warriors would fill up the big hole vacated by Erram – a Defensive Player of the PBA Press Corps last year.
“Hindi kaya totally takpan iyung pagkawala ni Poy. How can you replace his size? His defensive prowess…only him can do those. The other guys have to make extra contributions now,” said Guiao.
