RAIN or Shine isn’t waving the white flag this conference, but coach Yeng Guiao is already looking forward to the Philippine Cup after the Elasto Painters' locals put up a gallent effort before suffering another tough defeat on Wednesday.
The Elasto Painters faltered to their fifth consecutive defeat despite bringing in a new import in Tree Treadwell, replacing DaJuan Summers. They lost, 115-110, against San Miguel fueled by a key three-pointer by Marcio Lassiter.
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Rain or Shine’s chances of making it past the eliminations got even slimmer with the defeat as it now needs to sweep its games in order to have at least a chance.
Although Rain or Shine still has six more games to turn their fortunes around in the Commissioner’s Cup, Guiao said Wednesday’s loss is proof that the locals can step forward in the coming all-local conference.
Gian Mamuyac spearheaded the locals after notching a career-high 33 points, just a few days after Andrei Caracut also had his best outing in the PBA when he registered 32 markers against Barangay Ginebra.
“Ang sinasabi namin, i-parehas lang ng import namin ‘yung laro, locals na ang bahala,” said Guiao. “Mas gusto namin na magkaroon ng contribution ‘yung local line-up namin kesa doon sa ipinanalo ka ng import mo pero hindi masyadong naramdaman ‘yung locals. ‘Yung sa situation namin, ramdam mo ‘yung locals, hindi mo naman naramadaman ‘yung import.”
“To me, that’s still good news. That means hindi locals ang problema namin. We are just looking for that proper import personnel siguro na puwede naming mai-terno sa team. I’m very happy with our locals. Si Mamuyac played another career game. Previous to this, si Andrei naman. I’m very impressed with Adrian Nocum. Our locals did a good job. I’m not really disappointed with how our locals played,” Guiao said.
Encouraging signs for Rain or Shine
“In the dugout, I had to emphasize to them na to me, this is still a good sign. ‘Yung limang talo namin, hindi ko tatanggapin na ‘yung locals ang naging dahilan. But nonetheless, we are a team. We will try to fix the problem. Baka meron pang pag-asa. Kung wala naman, I’m really excited and looking forward sa all-Filipino lalo na kapag nandiyan na si Luis at si Keith Datu. That is what excites me now na nakikita ko na hindi locals ang dahilan at meron pang hindi nagagamit na malaking potential. I guess that’s the silver lining,” said Guiao.
Rain or Shine, however, still wants a strong finish to the conference. In order to so, Treadwell has to step up after he only scored eight points while he hauled 15 boards.
“We are still trying to find out our rhythm,” Guiao said. “We have a new import. We are really looking to improve on our rebounding and defense. Tingin ko nag-improve naman. Pero in terms of the import match-up, we are giving up too much offense naman sa kabila.”
“We had a chance to win the game again. One or two possessions in the end game. Pero kapag natalo ka, parang nane-negate ‘yung effort na ‘yun,” said Guiao.
On Treadwell, Guiao said: “There is still room for improvement. Maramdaman niya ‘yung ano ang kailangan niyang gawin para manalo ang team. Ang feeling ko, hindi siya offensive minded. Marami siyang gini-give up na pasa na sa tingin ko, puwede niyang gawing opportunities to score. But I think he will understand better kung ano talaga ‘yung kailangang gawin ng import para matulungan niya ‘yung team niya."
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