Kris Rosales faced with high expectations at Kiefer Ravena-less NLEX

MANILA, Philippines – Kris Rosales will have big shoes to fill with his new team NLEX as he's banked on to patch up the hole left by the absence of Kiefer Ravena.

With the Road Warriors struggling in the Philippine Cup partly due to Ravena heading to the Japan B. League, NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao admitted that there is much work to do in their backcourt rotation.

"With Kiefer, we lost about 16, 17 points a game, six or seven assists together with his maybe four or five rebounds, and then [he also] plays good defense," Guiao said in a recent episode of One Sports' The Game.

"I think we'll get close to those numbers with Kris Rosales. Not right away, but once he gets adjusted I think he'll be able to get close to those numbers," he added.

Rosales was acquired by the Road Warriors as a free agent. The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters let him go in February, causing him to miss the Philippine Cup.

He did, however, see action in the Clark bubble in 2020 where he averaged 5.45 points and 3.91 rebounds in 19 minutes.

Despite a long layoff from the game, Guiao sees the six-year pro as a crucial addition to his roster.

"Kailangan kasi ng tulong din ni Kevin [Alas]... We had some trouble after Kiefer left this last conference. We were doing fine for a short while, but then nung lumabas na talaga yung natural, talagang kailangan namin ng tulong sa point guard position," Guiao said.

"Kris fits the role. I think he's going to enjoy playing for our team," he added.

Guiao will have a bevy of point guards at his disposal even without Ravena.

Apart from Alas and Rosales, the decorated mentor has Jericho Cruz, Philip Paniamogan and Bong Galanza in his backcourt rotation.