RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao made no bones about the extra satisfaction of beating Magnolia in the quarterfinals of the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup.
Without him directly saying so, Magnolia may have suffered karma when he said it appeared the Hotshots purposely lost to Converge so it will face the Elasto Painters instead of San Miguel.
When the eliminations were down to the final day, RoS had already sealed its place as the No. 1 team of Group B, and was waiting for its opponent for the quarterfinals.
Their opponent came down to either Converge or Magnolia, which faced each other last September 23 with a pick-your-poison situation, with the winner taking on the Beermen and the loser facing the Elasto Painters.
The Hotshots lost, 89-82, and became the No. 4 seed in Group A.
After the game, Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero explained that the loss may have been caused by their decision not to stretch the minutes of some of their stars such as Paul Lee and Mark Barroca, so as to make them fresh for the playoffs.
READ: Converge went in to win, Magnolia put premium on health in battle for No. 3
“We will face the No. 1 team with a lot of talent and a very good import. We’ll just try to be ready. We want our players to stay healthy,” Victolero said in describing Rain or Shine and their strategy.
Added fuel to Rain or Shine's already-burning fire
Guiao said the result of the Converge-Magnolia game was one of the sources of motivation for the team.
“We felt a little challenged kasi alam namin na parang ginusto ng Magnolia na kami ang makatapat nila nung game nila with Converge,” Guiao said.
“Buong game nila against Converge, mas importante sa kanila ‘yung makapagpahinga daw ‘yung mga players kesa mag-compete sa larong ‘yun. To me, it was really a conscious choice on their part to play us,” said Guiao.
Guiao said even playing assistant coach Gabe Norwood reminded the players of Magnolia’s statement.
“Gabe Norwood kept telling us that we should exact some form of revenge for that na these guys chose us. So maybe, mas maganda na magsisi sila na tayo ang pinili nila. That was put as a challenge to the guys,” said Guiao.
Rain or Shine went on to beat Magnolia in a grind-out series that lasted the full route with the Elasto Painters taking Game Five, 113-103. Guiao later said eliminating Magnolia is a big boost to their title quest.
Still, a bigger challenge is ahead of the Elasto Painters, as they now take on TNT in the best-of-seven semifinals beginning on Wednesday.
For now, Guiao said they will celebrate the win, but also acknowledges that it’s going to be a problem facing the Tropang Giga in the semifinals.
“Medyo gusto ko pang i-enjoy ‘yung laro na ‘to (Game Five) kesa doon sa problema na naman na iisipin. I want to enjoy the win before thinking of the next series,” said Guiao.
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