UNINTENDED BENEFIT
- Guiao says ROS will take away lots of lessons from series vs Magnolia to prepare for TNT duel
Coach Yeng Guiao was still in a celebratory mode moments after Rain or Shine’s hard-fought quarterfinal decider against Magnolia that he couldn’t come up with something to think of for his team’s next big mission.But the manner by which the ElastoPainters emerged a semifinalist of the PBA Governors’ Cup may help them in a big way in their best-of-seven showdown with the TNT Tropang Giga.
“Magnolia really gave us a good lesson,” Guiao said in Filipino after Saturday’s 113-103 win at Ynares Center in Antipolo City. “We’re a young team, but it means a lot to beat Magnolia in a deciding Game 5 where everything’s at stake.”
Rain or Shine’s composure was totally tested in the quarterfinals, picking up two close wins in Games 1 and 3 while overcoming the misery of twice being blown out in Games 2 and 4 by a combined margin of 81 points.
Game 5 saw Magnolia seemingly playing to Rain or Shine’s strength of a fast-paced game, and resulted in double-digit leads in the first half. The Hotshots came into the contest having enjoyed the experience of playing multiple playoff games despite having just one championship in five Finals appearances under Chito Victolero.
But Rain or Shine managed to get the lead back, leaning on import Aaron Fuller and a number of contributors in Andrei Caracut, Jhonard Clarito, Keith Datu and Adrian Nocum to gain control and eventually win in front of a boisterous good-sized audience in the capital city of Rizal province.
“If you lose by big margins, it usually takes a hit in terms of your confidence. But the guys just disregard that,” said Guiao.
It will be the second straight conference that Rain or Shine and TNT will meet in a playoff series, with the ElastoPainters prevailing over the Tropang Giga in last season’s Philippine Cup quarterfinals that went a full three games.
The dynamics may change this time, with the Tropang Giga fresh off topping Group A with an 8-2 record and dismissing the NLEX Road Warriors in four games of their quarters series.
Rain or Shine also topped Group B, but the league mistakenly implemented a playoff format that would see the two group winners face off in the semis, instead of the Finals, with prior to the playoffs, did not sit well with Guiao.
And like Magnolia, the prohibitive favorite is TNT in terms of experience and talent, with import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson expected to be a matchup nightmare that Guiao and his coaching staff will try to figure out heading into Wednesday’s opener.
Plus, there’s also the locals in RR Pogoy, Jayson Castro, Glenn Khobuntin, a pair of Guiao’s ex-players at NLEX in Calvin Oftana and Poy Erram and former Rain or Shine star Rey Nambatac.
The other semifinals will also begin Wednesday with Barangay Ginebra taking on San Miguel Beer or Converge in a best-of-seven.
San Miguel and Converge were disputing the remaining semifinal seat at press time inside Ynares Center, after the FiberXers rallied from a 2-0 series deficit with back-to-back wins over the Beermen. INQ
