FOR Yeng Guiao, Rain or Shine losing Game 5 of the PBA Governors Cup Finals to B-Meg is just a bump in its road to the championship.
“Na-delay lang pero amin pa rin ito,” Guiao calmly said as the Elasto Painters squandered the first of its three chances of winning a breakthrough title with an 81-91 loss to the Llamados on Wednesday night.
“Ganyan talaga ang buhay,” added Guiao, also a vice-governor of Pampanga, before excusing himself in a brief post-game interview.
Despite the setback, Rain or Shine still leads the best-of-seven series, 2-3, with Game Six set Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Rebounds and poor shot selections did the Elasto Painters in, according to Guiao.
The Llamados again clobbered the Elasto Painters off the boards, 67-49, including a 24-15 edge in the offensive end, despite the absence of top big man Marc Pingris.
“We’re back to our perennial problem, which is rebounding. We gave them 24 offensive rebounds, which meant 24 extra possessions for them, and that’s really hard to survive,” said Guiao.
B-Meg just shot 38 percent from the floor (35-of-91), but Rain or Shine fared even worse at 36 percent (88-of-32).
“We’re hoping our percentage got better, we encountered problems with our shot selections, we couldn’t get into any rhythm. Hindi kami nagkaroon ng flow sa offense,” admitted Guiao.
Of course, officiating didn’t escape the attention of the Rain or Shine coach.
“Despite attacking the baskets, we only got 16 free throws. We felt we should have gotten a few more free throws when we drove to the basket,” said Guiao.
“But that’s the judgment of the referees. I just hope they can exercise better judgment the next time.”
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