RETURNING Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao has no plans of tweaking the team’s lineup in the foreseeable future, much less before the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Guiao said he is keeping the roster intact in his return to the Elasto Painters, answering with a firm no when asked if he has plans of bringing in former players from Rain or Shine or even from his most recent team NLEX.
“I have no plans of doing that,” said Guiao.
[READ: Gabe, Belga confident Guiao can bring back ROS glory days]
After an absence of six years, Guiao has returned to Rain or Shine but has taken over a team that is on a rebuilding mode after missing the quarterfinals of the last two conferences.
Beau Belga, Gabe Norwood, and Jewel Ponferada are the only holdovers from Rain or Shine’s last title run in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup, with players like Paul Lee, JR Quinahan, Raymond Almazan, Jeff Chan, and even Jericho Cruz now with different teams.
For now, at least, Guiao said he will be sticking to the current roster mostly composed of new players, saying the first order of business is how the players will respond to his entry as the new coach of the team, a process that he grants will take time.
“You can’t really rebuild unless you know the team inside out,” said Guiao. “I will not be able to do that in one day or one week or one month’s time. I think bago ka makapag-rebuild, kailangan mo muna makita lahat ng puwedeng gawin ng mga ito in a new system or in this context na sila sila magkakasama tapos iba na ‘yung coach.
“You have to see kung magre-respond ba sila sa akin o hindi,” said Guiao.

Guiao said he likes the mix of veterans and young players in the roster, with Belga, Norwood, and Ponferada providing experience from the time he was the coach of Rain or Shine.
“I think they’ve kept themselves in good shape,” said Guiao, referring to Belga, Norwood, and Ponferada. “Si Beau nga pumayat. Natuto rin siguro kay JR (Quinahan) ‘to. If you want to prolong your career, you have to be in the best shape that you can be.
"Si Gabe, same, pareho lang katawan niya and ‘yung athleticism niya. Jewel is the same pa rin. If these guys are in good shape and they have that wealth of knowledge and experience, may pagagamitan ‘yan at makakatulong sa amin.”
Guiao also comes in with Rey Nambatac as the primary offensive threat, a role that he will continue under the returning head coach. But Guiao noted the crucial role of the other guys in also chipping in to the offense.
“’Yung laro ni Rey, sakto sa sistema. I don’t see any problems. Siguro ang importante lang is we do not overdepend on him. Kasi kailangan naming tulungan kasi naka-focus na ang depensa kay Rey everytime they play Rain or Shine. The others have to create other offensive threat para lumuwag naman ang sitwasyon ni Rey,” said Guiao.
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