FREED FROM BURDEN
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao had his wards take on a simple approach that worked well in an eventual rout of erstwhile solo leader NorthPort that put an end to a two-game slump in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“I told them to unburden ourselves of the losing streak,” Guiao said after Thursday’s 127-107 victory at Philsports Arena in Pasig City that created another shake-up in the elimination-round standings of the midseason conference.
The ElastoPainters improved to 6-3 (win-loss) to forge a four-way logjam for fourth to seventh places with Hong Kong Eastern, Barangay Ginebra and the Meralco Bolts while dropping the Batang Pier from solo first to a share of second.
Guiao and Rain or Shine also gave themselves some sense of belief once more after disappointing defeats at the hands of Phoenix and Converge that saw the E-Painters playing below the form that they’ve flashed this conference.
“We can win at our best. If we’re competing at our best, that’s really the time that we win,” said Guiao. “But in the last two games, we played half-heartedly, we didn’t play with force and we didn’t show enough determination to compete.
“But I guess, losing two games is a good thing for us. It’s a wake-up call and a way to reset our mindset,” he added.
Seven players scored in double figures, led by import Deon Thompson’s 27. Locals Santi Santillan, Adrian Nocum, Anton Asistio and Andrei Caracut, who struggled during the team’s skid, were all part of the big offensive show for Rain or Shine.
The E-Painters will hope to build on the victory going into a marquee tussle with Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday next week at Ynares Center in Antipolo City in a key battle for playoff positioning.
“Ginebra’s been playing well, but I’m confident that the team can get the job done, as long as we’re competing,” said Guiao.
Ginebra is also in dire need of a win on Friday, also at Philsports, against TNT at 7:30 p.m.—the first meeting between both teams since the conclusion of the Governors’ Cup Finals last November.
TNT, which won that series in six games, climbed to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-2 (win-loss) record and with NorthPort’s setback, having been on a roll after back-to-back defeats to open the conference.
The Tropang Giga downed the slumping NLEX Road Warriors, 94-87, on late Wednesday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Eastern is favored to hand winless Terrafirma its 11th defeat in the 5 p.m. curtain raiser on Friday.
NorthPort fell to 7-3 to tie Converge after another double-digit defeat. The Batang Pier started the week with a 17-point loss at the hands of the Bolts.
While workhorse import Kadeem Jack scored 39 points, NorthPort couldn’t get much from Arvin Tolentino and Joshua Munzon at the start despite finishing with 19 and 17, respectively.
