"Ripe for the PBA" Ravena is first Player of the Week for 2018 season

The first PBA Press Corps Player of the Week this season is a rookie!

By Ivan Saldajeno

ANTIPOLO—Just two games into his PBA career, Kiefer Ravena has already made an impression.

The six-foot combo guard opened his account with a double-double of 18 points in just three quarters and 12 assists—actually a near triple-double as he had seven rebounds too—as he led NLEX to a win over Kia in a scoring spree last week.

[Related Story: NLEX subdues Kia as Ravena debuts in style]

On Christmas Day, however, he showed that he can be deadly in the clutch as well as he scored 14 of his 20 points against GlobalPort in the second half while making four steals to led his team to another victory.

[Related Story: NLEX withstands Pringle's Christmas barrage to repulse GlobalPort]

Even Batang Pier head coach Pido Jarencio could not help but applaud the second overall pick of the recent draft for leading the way for the Road Warriors.

"Lahat ng rookies, dumadaan sa [adjustment period]. Kaya lang exception itong si Kiefer eh. Pumasok na hinog na hinog eh," Jarencio said of Ravena, who on Wednesday was named the first PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the young season.

Ravena got the nod of the reporters covering the games over NLEX teammate JR Quiñahan, San Miguel's Junemar Fajardo, Ginebra's Greg Slaughter, Meralco's KG Canaleta, and Rain or Shine's Beau Belga and Raymond Almazan.

"He's going to be special," Coach Yeng Guiao said of his latest prized freshman recruit.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno