THERE was a thunderstorm warning issued by the PAGASA in Montalban, Rizal, last Sunday night.
Fittingly, inside the jam-packed and newly-built Ynares Center II, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters rained an avalanche of three-pointers and fast break points that cooled down the erstwhile red-hot Magnolia Hotshots.
For Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, his charges inflicting Magnolia its maiden loss of the PBA Philippine Cup can be a big morale booster and prop up their bid for a quarterfinals slot.
“Natural iyon. Normal naman iyon. Basta nanalo ka, kahit anong klaseng panalo tataas iyong kumpiyansa mo. Lalo na kung ang tatalunin mo ay iyong leading team. It’s also something dahil hinahabol pa namin iyong six wins,” Guiao said. “Iyong six wins, para at least makasigurado ka na nasa second round ka or sa quarterfinals. We’re 4-2 right now.
“So, dalawang panalo na lang. Tingin ko iyon ang competition namin, get six wins,” he added.
Guiao spoke after the Painters hammered a 119-105 victory over the Hotshots in front of 8,175 fans who trooped to the mountainous town in Southern Tagalog and stoked their mark to 4-2 in the season-ending tourney, a fitting follow up also to a 120-106 dumping of the Blackwater Bossing last May 7.
“Well, challenge talaga ito, to face Magnolia. Alam naman nami na wala pa silang talo so we’re just hoping na sobrang ganda ng inilalaro nila baka isang araw mamalasin sila, matapat sana doon sa araw na kalaban namin sila,” Guiao said. “Mabuti ma lang medyo ganoon nga, medyo minalas sila tapos maganda iyong shooting namin. We were making our three-point shots and we were also able to play at our own pace, gusto namin iyong pace namin. I think we were able to control the transition game.
“Maraming fast break points, mas mabilis iyong pace ng laro. Tapos maganda iyong ball movement namin, we had 29 assists. Tsaka nagtulong-tulong lang. With our rotation, I think, everybody was able to score and contribute offensively.”
Guiao’s wards boomed in 15 of their 31 triples and outran Magnolia 25-6.
The Hotshots came off a 117-112 triumph over the defending champion Meralco Bolts Wednesday last week and slipped to 6-1.
Adrian Nocum anchored Rain or Shine with 20 points, two rebounds, and seven assists while Leonard Santillan added a double-double of 17 markers and 13 boards.
Jhonard Clarito, Felix Pangilinan-Lemetti, and Keith Datu also did their part with 14, 11, and 10 points, respectively for the Painters.
“Actually, before practice talaga nag-e-extra po talaga and pinagtrabahuhan ko po iyong shooting ko tapos iyon, sa practice naman, nandoon naman lagi iyon intensity namin,” the 6-foot-4 Santillan said. “Kasi para masanay kami sa laro kaya iyong offensive rebound malaking bagay talaga sa amin.”
Now Rain or Shine faces a stern test anew—against grand slam-seeking TNT tomorrow in a duel that the Painters hope they can let it rain again.
