RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao was understandably fuming on Saturday as he once again saw a rival team in Barangay Ginebra jump over them in the recent PBA Draft because of a pick-swap with Terrafirma following a blockbuster deal involving Christian Standhardinger, and the Dyip’s top rookie Stephen Holt.
But Guiao could take solace in the fact that he has a solid group of assistant coaches, led by the brilliant Caloy Garcia, behind him. These coaches have proven to have an eye for spotting talents whichever place the Elasto Painters end up in the draft.
One look at the young core of this group, and it speaks a lot about the team’s pre-draft scouting.
Just look at all the gems they’ve found from the second round on of the draft starting over the past few years – their core backcourt in Adrian Nocum, Andrei Caracut, and Anton Asistio were all second-round selections.
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Caracut and Asistio were drafted No. 22 and 23, respectively in the 2021 draft, while Nocum proved to be an instant contributor after being drafted 24th in last year’s draft.
Jhonard Clarito, who was drafted 17th overall in the second round of the 2022 draft – posted averages of 11 points and five rebounds in more than 20 minutes of action last conference as the main back-up to Beau Belga.
With their higher selections, they seem to have also hit the right notes.
Santi Santillan and Gian Mamuyac – their fifth overall picks in the 2021 and 2022 draft classes respectively – are turning out to be cornerstones of this franchise as they starred in the Elasto Painters’ run to the semifinals last conference.
Keith Datu, their fourth overall pick last year, showed some flashes of brilliance despite missing some games early on in his career with a weird illness. Their third-overall pick in UE star Luis Villegas hasn’t even played yet, but his arrival will certainly add depth to the RoS frontline.
And upon looking at their selections in last Sunday’s 2024 PBA draft, Guiao and his keen-eyed think tank behind him looked like they'd done it again.
Biggest winners of the draft?
Let’s get this out of the way: By landing Caelan Tiongson in seventh, the Elasto Painters already got a big win.
Perhaps the only downside in drafting Tiongson is his age – but after being slaughtered by June Mar Fajardo and the San Miguel Beermen last conference in the semifinals, what the Elasto Painters obviously need is someone who can contribute down low right away, and Tiongson's selection addresses that.
The 6’5 forward brings international experience with him, too, as he’s oftentimes banging bodies with bigger and stronger imports in his stint with Alab Pilipinas in the ABL, and the Taoyuan Beer Leopards in Taiwan.
After a brief retirement in 2019, Tiongson returned in 2021 with the Beer Leopards where he posted near double-double averages of 13.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists in T1 – numbers that will be expected of him when he finally makes his PBA debut.
While Tiongson is pretty much a known quantity, what could push Rain or Shine over the top are their second-round selections, and that mystery man named Felix Lemetti they picked as their eighth overall selection.
Before talking about Lemetti, let’s take a look at RoS’ three second-round selections in Francis Escandor, Mike Malonzo and Miggy Corteza.
Guiao loves tough multi-positional wings who can play on both ends of the floor and these three look like a perfect fit.
After playing as a key piece to La Salle’s UAAP title run, the 6’3 Escandor could end up as Guiao’s next project 3-and-d guy with his ability to knock down threes and move his feet on the other end - his main MOs entering the pros.
Malonzo shone in Jeff Napa’s gritty National University squad which has been a staple in the UAAP semifinals - his versatility on defense, high motor and workrate proving invaluable to the Bulldogs.
Lastly, Corteza comes in as the most versatile offensive option from the three as he was a major cog in College of St. Benilde’s resurgence in the NCAA.
Corteza’s ability to hit three pointers, move without the ball and crash the boards to create second-chance points makes him a potential spark plug off the bench.
What’s crazy is they only need one of these three to break out, and given the depth of their team right now – they can take their sweet time in developing these players, players who for sure are in the perfect team and system to develop.
Is Lemetti high-risk, high-reward?
Entering Sunday’s PBA draft, absolutely no one had Lemetti this high up on their respective draft boards – well, maybe except the Elasto Painters camp.
After getting a sure thing in Tiongson as their seventh pick, Rain or Shine threw everyone a curve ball in the eight pick by selecting the Fil-Swedish guard ahead of tested floor generals and scorers in former Gilas Pilipinas guard Jerom Lastimosa, UAAP and NCAA Champion Evan Nelle and the spitfire Mark Nonoy.
Save for a few YouTube clips where he’s seen hitting three-pointers for Southern Utah in the NCAA division 1, and some highlights where he looks like Kyrie Irving playing in tier two basketball in Sweden – there really aren’t enough videos available for fans to gauge just how big Lemetti’s impact will be in the PBA.
Thankfully for the Bayan ng RoS faithful, they can put their full faith in their scouting coaches knowing full well that they’ve been hitting the mark over the past few years.
And since they already secured their ‘sure piece’ in Tiongson, they can roll the dice and swing for the fences in taking Lemetti. The reward in that gamble could be getting a bonafide scorer who can create shots for himself or his teammates late in the first round.
Should they miss? Well, they’ve got enough young pieces on the guard position and a bevy of solid forwards at their disposal to keep their building process moving forward.
Consider it the luxury of drafting so well over the past years.
Making up for one past mishap
While Rain or Shine’s drafting as of late has been stellar, the franchise will always be haunted by the 2015 PBA Draft where they held the No. 3 pick, and a chance to select would-be MVP and one of the biggest stars in the league in Scottie Thompson.
Fresh off a brilliant individual run in the NCAA where he was named the MVP, and another scintillating performance as a key piece to the powerhouse Hapee squad which won a championship in the PBA D-League, Guiao wanted to draft Thompson as the squad’s newest cornerstone.
But his assistants overruled him and went with Maverick Ahanmisi instead, a guy who’s still having a pretty solid career in the PBA so far, but hadn’t come close to the impact and success that Thompson had for Barangay Ginebra.
While they won’t be getting that draft selection back, it seems like the Elasto Painters have shaped up in the coming draft selections.
Slowly but surely, the team has built a formidable core that’s already good enough to compete, and young enough to still have plenty of room to grow – and they did it the good ol’ fashion way: by drafting the right players which will fit their system.
Will it be enough to overcome powerhouse squads like San Miguel, and the recently revamped teams of Ginebra, TNT and Magnolia? Only time will tell.
But if and when that day comes, consider it a win for the underdog-loving, highly passionate Filipino basketball fans who have long been asking for parity.
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