AT Rain or Shine, culture is not just worn on their sleeve, but also in their facemasks as well.
The word "culture" is very much prominent on the team-supplied facemasks that Rain or Shine wore during its Friday’s game against NLEX in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
“Culture is big for our team and our organization,” Gavina said following the Elastopainters’ victory over NLEX on Friday.
Gavina’s coaching stint with Rain or Shine opened on a bright note as it beat NLEX, 83-82, a culmination of the months of training last March.
The youthful coach said he has instilled culture ever since he took over the Elastopainters.
“We have taken a lot of pride in delivering excellence in everything we do, how we act on and off the court. Like I said from Day One, since they appointed me, we kinda set the culture of having no excuses, just putting in the hardwork, and making sure that we just trust the work once we are on the court and I’m really glad that it showed tonight,” said Gavina, who took over the coaching chores from Caloy Garcia.
Culture of trust
The culture of trust, for one, showed in the first game as Gavina said he allowed assistant coach Mike Buendia to draw a few plays during the crucial juncture of the match.
“We do a lot of situationals where we work on that stuff. I’m really thankful for a guy like coach Mike who coming in, he had a play that he knew more than me that I wouldn’t let him sit. That’s the level of trust that we got to grown from player-to-player and coach-to-coach. The players just buy in. They believe in what we can do as coaches and we believe in them as well,” said Gavina.
A part of Rain or Shine culture, Gavina said, is defense, and he is glad that it also showed in Rain or Shine’s first game in months. The Painters limited the Road Warriors to 34 percent in the game, forcing their opponents to contested shots including that final possession by NLEX in which Kiefer Ravena was forced to pass on the potential game-winning shot and Anthony Semerad also throwing up a difficult attempt.
“I always say that defense is in our DNA at Rain or Shine. Ever since the bubble, I believe we are number one in several defensive categories. We take pride in that. We kinda just taken that momentum on the defensive side into this season. Coach Caloy already set the foundation. I’m just here to sustain that,” said Gavina.
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