RAIN or Shine’s fast-paced game never really got into high gear in Game One of its PBA Philippne Cup semifinals series against San Miguel.
And no way the Elasto Painters could beat the Beermen in a halfcourt game with 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo manning the shaded lane.
In a nutshell, that’s how coach Yeng Guiao saw how the opener of the best-of-seven series unfold for his team in a close 101-98 loss to the top-seeded Beermen on Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“When you play San Miguel, your biggest problem talaga is yung June Mar match-up. A lot of their scoring opportunities come off that post play,” said the veteran coach, noting that Fajardo shot a high 72 percent from the field to finish with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
“So every time he touches the ball at the low post and he would take a shot, that’s almost like a sure shot.”
Veteran Beau Belga and rookie Keith Datu alternated in taking on the seven-time MVP but with little success, given the obvious physical advantage Fajardo had over the two Elasto Painters.
“I think we need to find a solution to that because 72 percent from there (post) is just too efficient. We have to make him work harder.”
To counter Fajardo’s imposing presence at the low post, Guiao said Rain or Shine needs to run a little bit more the way it did during its quarterfinals matchup against the TNT Tropang Giga.
The Elasto Painters only had 10 fastbreak points against San Miguel compared to the 16 it had in its 110-109 win over the Tropang Giga in their sudden-death game.
“I think we should push the game faster because we’re not going to beat San Miguel playing halfcourt offense. So that’s another area of adjustment. We have to push harder going downcourt for our transition.”
The Elasto Painters have a day to tinker with those fine-tuning before Game Two on Sunday, also at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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