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Despite already securing top seed, Eastern coach Eduard Torres not thinking semis yet

ABL

By Ivan Saldajeno

STA. ROSA, Laguna--Eastern may be assured of the best record come the end of the ABL regular season.

But Coach Eduard Torres thinks there is still no reason to quickly ponder about the semifinals.

"I don't think it's time to think about the playoffs yet. It will just come in about three weeks. It's a long time," Torres told Dugout Philippines following Eastern's top-seed-clinching rout of Alab at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex on Sunday night.


In fact, he is not downplaying Eastern's potential semifinal opponent, which is likely either Saigon, Kaohsiung, or, if the team continues to slip, even Alab.

"I respect every team. Whoever we face will be tough," Torres continued.

Instead, Torres will devote his team's two games at hand to make the squad more playoff-ready.

"We gotta keep playing, working, and improving our game and physical condition. We gotta keep being humble and working hard," Torres continued.

The Long Lions' penultimate game of the preliminaries will be against the Heat on Wednesday night back in Hong Kong, and Torres admitted he is expecting them to be very formidable in their potential Final Four preview especially that they want to avenge their loss at home to former Fil-Am star Joshua Munzon and his new squad, the Malaysia Dragons, on Saturday night.

"I'd rather think about Saigon, which is our next game on Wednesday. In fact, its's coming very strong, so we need to get back to Hong Kong, rest the guys well, and get ready for them," Torres further said.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno