Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia did not hide his frustrations over some of his players following the Elasto Painters’ third consecutive loss in the 2018 Governors’ Cup on Wednesday evening.
The Elasto Painters lost steam in the fourth quarter and allowed the Alaska Aces to zoom to the finish line, 89-106, sending them near the bottom of the standings with a 0-3 win-loss record.
Rain or Shine have joined the likes of the Columbian Dyip (0-7) and the NorthPort Batang Pier (0-6) as the teams who have yet to taste a victory in the season-ending conference.
“We only played three good quarters today. I thought we would be able to pull of a win today but Alaska went with a sixteen to zero [run] in the fourth so that was the story of the game,” Garcia lamented.
“Nagtitiwala ako sa mga player na ginagamit ko, ang problema hindi ako sinusuklian ng maayos. We were doing something consistent for three quarters, and then pagdating ng fourth, nawala.”
It could actually be said that Wednesday’s loss was partly brought upon by the underwhelming outing of new import Terrence Watson, who replaced J’Nathan Bullock.
The 6-foot-5 import only had 10 points and 13 rebounds in the 31 minutes he played. But he could also be spared from scrutiny, as he had food poisoning several hours prior to the game.
However, no one should be blamed for the loss, said Garcia.
“We’re not putting the blame on the import. Sabi ko nga sa kanila minsan nananalo ang teams na walang import eh, kaya ka nagtitiwala sa local mo,” said the veteran tactician.
“But the thing is they have to be ready to play with our without the import. For me I think he performed well on the defensive side pero yung offensive game niya today medyo wala sa rhythm.
“But like I said we won’t use that as an excuse kasi may mga player ka naman na puwede maglaro eh, it’s just up to us stepping up,” added Garcia, who’s now in his second year as RoS’ chief mentor.
Still, Garcia isn’t losing hope that the Elasto Painters will be able to rise from this uncharacteristic slump.
“We just have to fight to get away from the hump that we’re losing right now,” said the Gilas Pilipinas assistant coach.
“Hopefully when we get a win, sana magtuloy-tuloy din.”
