DESPITE a rocky final stretch of the elimination round, Rain or Shine finally overcame the odds and obtained their primary goal in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup: winning seven games and making it to the top six.
Head coach Yeng Guiao said that even after their struggles during the final phase of the elims, his team can now look forward to a new start after their 7-5 win-loss record. The Elasto Painters actually started on fire with a 5-1 win-loss mark, but had to claw their way back in the homestretch, losing four of their next five matches.
READ: Rain or Shine downs TNT to dodge battle for No. 8
RoS finally arrested its skid with a 106-96 win over TNT in the last game of elims.
“Pagdating naman ng quarterfinals, zero-zero na lahat,” said Guiao on whether he believes that Rain or Shine has already weathered the storm. “You can throw your previous record and whatever you’ve achieved outside the window, and everybody starts on an even slate."
By clinching the No. 6 spot, the Elasto Painters will vie to progress to the next round against Converge in a best-of-three affair.
“We just achieved our objective. Importante lang, buhay pa kami sa ngayon,” said Guiao, as a loss to the Tropang Giga would have been lethal in their title bid because it would have dropped them to a playoff for No. 8 vs. Magnolia.
Still, even on a level playing field in their quarterfinal series, Guiao sees a tough out for RoS up against the FiberXers, the No. 3 seed with an 8-4 win-loss record who could have easily been in the top two had breaks gone their way.
“Parang ang kalaban namin, 1 and 2 rin. Kaya lang, at least best-of-three. I think we have until Wednesday to find a way to beat Converge. Nung last game namin against them, tinambakan nila kami. So psychologically, I think they have an advantage over us,” said Guiao.
Outside shooting key for Rain or Shine in playoffs
The good news is Guiao's wards' shooting woes in the past games were overcome after Rain or Shine nailed 55 percent of their three-pointers against TNT, with Anton Asistio and Santi Santillan leading the way by combining for 11-of-15 shots from deep made.
In comparison, in the Elasto Painters' loss to NLEX, they shot just 35 percent from threes.
“’Yung last two losses namin, we were really shooting poorly. Pero ngayon, more than 50 percent sa three points. Si Anton, halos hindi nagmimintis. You have to play a near-perfect game to beat TNT. Halos bumigay na kami at a certain point. We lost our lead. Lumamang pa sila ng one point. Mabuti nakabalik kami. And it’s also because of the three-point shots that got us back in the game," he said.
“So I just wish maging consistent kami kasi ‘yun talaga ang paraan para manalo ngayon. Ang importante, we are playing in the quarterfinals in a best-of-three instead of playing in a twice-to-beat with you at a disadvantage or having to go through a playoff. This is the best scenario for us considering na after our five-game win streak ng December, itong January medyo masama na nilalaro namin. Buti nakabawi kami."
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