CHICAGO - Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao has been around the bend often enough to know that the first win to start a conference is not a big deal.
But on the heels of his team's impressive 110-97 demolition of Blackwater on Tuesday night at the Araneta Coliseum, the decorated mentor allowed a few emotions to leak.
Happiness. Hope. Optimism.
Obviously, the victory made him ecstatic but so did the subtle splendor of Caelan Tinogson's debut performance which brought in 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in just 20 minutes and 18 seconds of play.
READ Caelan Tiongson powers through illness in impressive PBA debut
The 6-foot-5 swingman out of Biola University in California went 5-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 from 3 and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
"He was great," Guiao told me via text message. "All-Star potential," he added when asked about the Fil-Am's ceiling.
LOW-KEY LEMETTI.
Felix Lemetti, an underrated prospect whom Rain or Shine surprisingly picked at No. 8 overall in last month's draft, turned out to be a neat package, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting in 17 minutes of relief play.
While other teams may have looked away from the Fil-Swedish due to his size (6-foot-1, 190 lbs), Guiao was right all along. There's a reason why Lemetti played and stayed with a US NCAA Division I school.
The 25-year old from Stockholm, Sweden exhibits smart, methodical basketball.
Rain Or Shine hit 12 treys 3 and grabbed 53 rebounds but it was the 29 assists that made Guiao, a lifelong proponent of community play, especially giddy.
"I'm happy with the way we shared the ball," he mused.
Still, it wasn't a perfect night for the Elasto Painters who coughed up 16 turnovers, a hiccup which Guiao aims his players will cure with more efficiency moving forward.
GOOD BUT NOT GREAT.
Although he didn't shoot the ball well (1-of-5 from 3 and 8-of-20 overall) and had four turnovers, No.2 draft pick Sedrick Barefield had a solid debut of 18 points and 4 rebounds.
Just like Stephen Holt before him, Sedrick's extensive international experience and talent will eventually manifest once he adapts to the pace, physicality and officiating in the PBA.
The familiarity with the PBA was one of the reasons why RoS import Aaron Fuller (24 points, 19 rebounds) performed a lot better than Blackwater's Ricky Ledo (12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists).
Despite hitting only 4-of-23 from the field, a Blackwater player, who requested anonymity," insisted that Ledo "is a good player."
I agree. He is a former NBA player for Christ's sake.
However, I think he needs to improve on his shot selection.
After going 0-for-6 from 4-point range, does he know that hoisting the ball from 27 feet is a terrible idea?
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