CHICAGO — Deprived of suspended import Jaylen Johnson, Rain or Shine was led to the gallows on Friday night.
But by sheer force of will and determination, the scheduled electrocution at the hands of Meralco was averted.
Instead, the Elasto Painters pulled off one of the most daring escapes in league history by jolting the Bolts, 109-102, at the Araneta Coliseum.
READ: All-Filipino Rain or Shine pulls off stunning win over Meralco
In a stellar career burnished by seven titles and two Coach of the Year awards, this engineered upset is a gem that merits mention Yeng Guiao’s already stout body of work.
Beating Meralco, which had a brilliant foreign coach in Nenad Vucinic plus the decided advantage of a 7-foot reinforcement in Marvin Jones, is magical.
NO BIG DEAL.
Guiao, however, chose a simpler, more pedestrian vocabulary.
Luck.
“Swerte lang. May chamba talaga,” he told rme in Saturday morning.
There was also a lot of hard work that was fueled by desperation.
Rain or Shine outworked Meralco off the boards (57-46) and on second-chance points, 12-8. They also outran them on the open court with a 16-6 edge on fastbreak points.
RELENTLESS DEFENSE.
Most importantly, somehow, the RoS defense held Jones to only 17 points on 17 field goal attempts.
In addition, Rain or Shine neutralized Meralco’s attack by holding the Bolts to just 13 assists while forcing 11 turnovers.
The Elasto Painters, meanwhile, answered their coach’s battlecry to step up.
Felix Lemetti had 23 points. Caelan Tiongson and Adrian Nocum combined for 33, while Jhonard Clarito and Christian Manaytay pooled together 27.
After also beating Bol Bol and TNT without an ejected Johnson last Friday, RoS is in a league of its own in resiliency.
As I said before, when it rains with adversity, these Elasto Painters shine.
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