Monday evening’s Ginebra-Rain or Shine clash was a far cry from the one that took place three nights ago, when the Barangay and the Elasto Painters figured in a triple overtime clash.
The Elasto Painters lost their edge in the final frame and eventually fell, 80-88. What makes it tough to swallow, moreover, is the fact that that defeat sent them to a 0-1 deficit in the best-of-three quarterfinal series.
“I think in today’s game we just lacked effort. We came in soft,” rued head coach Caloy Garcia. “We (coaches) know what to do but I told the players hindi naman kami naglalaro, sila.
“So the effort should come from the players.”
For team veteran Beau Belga, though, the loss took place not just because of poor effort, but also because of their apparent fear of taking shots, visible in the fourth quarter when Ginebra made 12 straight points.
“Parang hesitant kami tumira,” he said. “Sinabi ko nga sa kanila, ‘sayang yung pinapraktis niyo araw-araw na shooting kung ipapasa niyo yung mga free shot.’ Ako naman, talagang pakialamero ako e, pagka may panira ako, titira ako.”
“Wala akong pakialam kung mayroon pang libreng iba. Doon kami binuild e, yung iba hindi inabot si coach Yeng (Guiao) pero yun yung klase ng team na mayroon kami, na kapag may libre, tira. Kapag ka mayroong chance, grab.”
But even with the setback, Belga and Rain or Shine have decided to stick with the positives, such as the fact that they made it a tight affair for the majority of the match even with an injury-plagued roster.
“This team was built sa mga adversity eh,” said Belga. “Alam namin sa sarili namin na kaya namin [despite the injuries], kailangan lang paghirapan.
“At hindi pa naman tapos yung series eh,” added the 10-year veteran. “Come Wednesday, we really need to go really hard against Ginebra, parang ngayon kasi parang binigyan namin sila ng leeway na gawin ang lahat ng gusto nila sa amin.
“So come Wednesday, sabi sa amin na let’s just play hard. Hindi mo naman alam kung anong magiging resulta e and alam namin sa sarili namin na kaya namin yung Ginebra. So prepare bukas, pahinga and let’s see what happens.”
