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Marked man Calvin Oftana hopes to learn better in NLEX’s must-win games

Article (news)

Rey Joble

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Now a focal point of opposing teams’ defense, Oftana says he wants to be prepared to fight through it. PBA Media Bureau" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/07/11/oftana.jpg"/><figcaption>Now a focal point of opposing teams’ defense, Oftana says he wants to be prepared to fight through it. PBA Media Bureau</figcaption></figure></div>After losing three in a row, the NLEX Road Warriors are now in desperation mode to avoid falling either at No. 7 or No. 8 spots in the quarterfinal round of the PBA Philippine Cup.Their latest setback, a 96-86 loss at the hands of slumping Rain Or Shine, made it even more complicated for head coach Yeng Guiao and his troops as they fell deeper in the standings.Following the loss, NLEX dropped to a 4-5 win-loss card and slipped to eighth spot as Converge also won Saturday’s game against NorthPort, 104-98. This put the FiberXers in a tie with the Road Warriors, who were defeated by the newest team in the league a few days ago, 112-108.Calvin Oftana, the sophomore star of the Road Warriors, who has become the team’s top gun this season with averages of 16.44 points and 2.8 assists in the Philippine Cup, believes he needs to do a better job finding ways extricating from the opposing teams’ defensive schemes.“Sinasabi nga ng mga kuyas ko, na ini-scheme na ako, so I need to be smart enough para malaman yung mga bagay na ’yun,” said Oftana. “It’s my third conference pa lang naman sa PBA. I will learn from these games, from these losses. I will watch the films para mas matutunan ko.” But Oftana knows they have to do it collectively and in the past three losses, they were not been playing well as a team.“We relied on defending the star players of the opposing teams. ’Yung mga nakakasakit sa amin, ’yung mga rookies, sophomores. We put the blame on ourselves because there were lapses as well. We need to improve playing as a team,” added Oftana.Guiao wasn’t surprised seeing Oftana being the target of the defense.“Actually, expected naman ’yun and sinasabihan rin namin siya na maghanda dahil siya na ’yung ini-scheme ng ibang teams,” added Guiao. “Medyo it’s still part of the adjustment period. Tingin ko he will pass that test. Part ng process ’yun kung pinaghahandaan ka na, ini-scheme ka na, you will mature to counter on those schemes against you. But he has the skills to do that. He has skills to find ways to be more creative and productive.”

Now a focal point of opposing teams’ defense, Oftana says he wants to be prepared to fight through it.