RAIN or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao isn’t using inexperience and youth as an excuse after the team into a 0-2 hole against a veteran TNT side in their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals playoff.
The Tropang Giga once again went on a big third-quarter run to stifle the Elasto Painters and cruise to a comfortable 108-91 win in Game 2 last Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Save for Beau Belga and Gabe Norwood, the core of the team remains relatively young with the likes of Santi Santillan, Adrian Nocum and Andrei Caracut now leading the way for the Elasto Painters.
While there’s always room for maturity for his team, Guiao believes that his team should start believing that they belong here.
“Hindi ko na nga sinasabing bata sila e. That’s becoming an excuse. Sabi ko, wag niyong isiping bata tayo, ngayon lang tayong nakarating sa ganitong ano, wag na nating gawing excuse yan,” Guiao said.
“Ako kahit sa interviews di ko na sinasabing bata yung team namin. Kailangan pa rin mag-mature pero if we keep thinking na bata kami at may excuse kami baka di na kami mag-improve. So kailangan mo na pilitin na makapaglaro sa level ng kalaban.”
Belga, one of his seniors in the team, echoed the same sentiments.
The veteran big man used his 2012 team Rain or Shine champion team as an example, saying no player in that squad was over 30 years old during that stretch.
If they’ve figured it out during that time, Belga has no doubt that his younger teammates can, too.
“Sa tingin ko hindi na factor ang experience e. Nung lumaban kami ng finals nung 2012, puro bago kami e pero nagawa namin ng paraan. Ang sinasabi sa 'min ni coach, di na kayo bata. Ang bata, pag sinabi mong bata yung mga 18-20 years old. Yung sa 'min nasa 23 to 25 na e,” he shared.
“Yung edad nila, pa-peak na yung laro nila. So di mo pwedeng sabihin na less experienced kami. Nag-semis kami last time, All FIlipino.”
RoS in Survival Mode
Guiao is banking on that very same series Belga’s talking about where they got swept by San Miguel.
With the rookies in Felix Lemetti, Caelan Tiongson and Francis Escandor the only players who weren’t in that series, Guiao hopes that this team has learned a thing or two about survival.
“We’re looking to win one game first. Survival mode ka na. When you’re down 0-2, survival mode ka na. We just want to win one game and hope the momentum shifts. Yun ang objective namin for Sunday. We just want to win one game and hoping we can turn it around,” he said.
“We will never lose hope. We’re trying to build character. Galing na kami sa ganitong situation, last conference sa San Miguel ganito rin ang situation.”
But one thing Guiao is yet to see is that same competitiveness the Elasto Painters had in the San Miguel series, particularly in this game.
“Sa San Miguel series namin, nakikita mo lumalaban. Merong competitive desire. Dito sa Game 2 di ko nakita yung competitive desire na yun. We’ll just try to bring that back.”
Should they get that back, he’s hopeful that it will start to turn the tide for his team in this series.
“We’re just looking for one good game na pwedeng mag-pabangon ng morale namin. A game wherein we can recover our confidence,” he said.
“Mataas na kumpyansa ng TNT, kami bumababa ang kumpyansa namin. Kami we’re just trying to recover and get back our confidence in Game 3.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
