IT’S only two games into the PBA Governors’ Cup, but there’s already buzz building around Rain or Shine after blowing past its first two assignments in Blackwater and Barangay Ginebra.
Sure, beating a perennial cellar-dweller in the Bossing and a sluggish Gin Kings side playing its first game might not be enough of a sample size to project just how far the Elasto Painters will go, but there are plenty of things to be excited about for Bayan ng RoS.
Their semis run in the All-Filipino proved that they have the personnel and depth to be one of the top teams in the league, but in terms of winning it all, they’re not quite there yet.
Only, bringing back Aaron Fuller may very well be the solution to that problem.
Two games in, Fuller has been the inside anchor the Elasto Painters desperately needed in their semifinals loss to San Miguel last conference, with his physicality and versatility proving invaluable for coach Yeng Guiao who was then handcuffed while watching his team get slaughtered by June Mar Fajardo.
Fuller is averaging 20 points and 21 rebounds in his first two games for Rain or Shine, seemingly a perfect fit for a team that already has a plethora of options on offense, with the likes of Santi Santillan, Gian Mamuyac, and Adrian Nocum all showing the capability of exploding for them.
And we haven’t even talked about the Elasto Painters' two first-round picks in Caelan Tiongson and Felix Lemetti – one player living up to expectations, and another exceeding forecasts.
Tiongson had 15 points in his first game, as Lemetti is proving to be the steal of the draft RoS hoped he would be with solid showings in his first two games.
In two games, Lemetti is averaging 12 points and three assists off the bench, but his impact speaks louder than those numbers. In particular, in facing crowd favorite Ginebra and former PBA MVP Scottie Thompson, he proved to be steadier down the stretch as he scored half of the points in the Elasto Painters’ 20-3 finishing kick.
Add those two guys, plus a perfect fit in Fuller, to an already 10-deep squad, then we may be looking at one of the dark horses of the conference.
RoS' return to relevance good for the league?
All criticisms of PBA league aside, Meralco’s breakthrough Philippine Cup championship was the defibrillator the league definitely - and desperately - needed.
Though it still came from a team under the MVP umbrella, the Bolts winning their first one led by drafted stars in Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge certainly injected life to a league which is already facing issues of parity and crowd fatigue when it comes to eventual winners.
READ: Cliff Hodge says Meralco championship good for the PBA
Now imagine if an independent squad finally wins the big one again.
It’s not surprising to hear that the last time a non-MVP, non-SMC Group team won the big one, it was Guiao-led Rain or Shine back in 2016.
And there are plenty of parallels between that team and this one.
Like Fuller, their import back then in Pierre Henderson-Niles wasn't a big-time scorer, but played his role as an inside anchor to perfection as he proved to be a snug fit for the ultra-deep Elasto Painters.
Back then, that squad had Paul Lee, Jericho Cruz, JR Quinahan, Maverick Ahanmisi, Jeff Chan, Chris Tiu, Gabe Norwood, Beau Belga, and Raymond Almazan, boasting of one of the most balanced rosters.
That same sort of balance now carried RoS all the way to the semis last conference, and it only got deeper with pro-ready rookies in Tiongson and Lemetti.
They still won’t be mentioned in the same breath as San Miguel, TNT, or even Ginebra –whom they already beat – as among the favorites to win this season.
But looking at how they have been built, don’t be surprised if the Elasto Painters pull off a shocker as the dark horse this conference.
For the sake of this league that had long been burdened with questions of parity and mismatches, this dark horse better run the full course.
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