THE Elasto Painters’ season that just came to a close can be likened to a typhoon—unpredictable.
There were sunny days as Rain or Shine reached the semifinals of all three conferences in the PBA’s 49th season but those stints also ended up in gloom.
“It’s disappointing. We felt that this was a big chance for us to at least take it to a Game 7. But in the last three minutes, we missed some shots and we committed some turnovers,” Guiao said. “I think iyon ang naging breakaway point iyong two or three turnovers in a row. I think dikitan noonng last three minutes. Again, it’s closing out games iyon pa rin ang problema namin. We couldn’t close it out; we couldn’t make the big plays when we needed them most.
“But we still look at it as a positive development for the team. Apat na sunod na semifinal appearances. We’re still awaiting iyong health recoveries nila Beau (Belga) and Luis (Villegas). We have a lot of things to look forward to. Si Felix (Pangilinan-Lemetti), magiging available na rin for the next conference and it’s still all-Filipino,” he added.
Guiao’s sentiments came on the heels of his wards’ 89-97 loss to the TNT Tropang 5G in Game 6 of their Last Four clash in the PBA Philippine Cup last Sunday night.
The defeat showed the door for the Painters 2-4 in the semifinals. They also fell victim for the third straight time in the semis—all against the Tropang 5G.
Guiao is convinced a steady go-to-guy and some size upgrade at the point guard spot are the missing pieces of their championship puzzle.
“Iyon nga nga iyong sinasabi ko na kung nandyan si Beau, I guess he’s going to be a steady influence if he’s able to play. Iyong mga point guards namin kasi medyo, ano pa, tingin ko kulang pa rin sa experience,” he said. “Of course, may ano naman si Andrei, may malaking improvement na. Nawala si Felix. Anton, I feel, above average may laro siya talaga na nag-contribute na maganda iyong laro niya.
“But overall, their guards outsized us. Malaki si (Jordan) Heading, malaki si (Brian) Heruela, kahit si Simon Enciso. So, siguro one thing we can improve on is just having more size in the guard position.”
