For some, a break is much-needed to get away from the grind. But for Caloy Garcia, the league’s two-week break did more harm than good to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
After starting the season at 7-1, the Elasto Painters have now lost back-to-back matches. This time, they bowed to the Columbian Dyip, 82-85 on Wednesday.
“Mentality namin has to change. Medyo after the long break, sabi ko sa kanila nag-iba na yung ugali nila, parang naging selfish-minded sila,” said the veteran bench strategist moments after the loss at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“I just told the players in the dugout that we can’t perform this way. We played a bad game.”
Wednesday’s defeat gave the Elasto Painters’ egos a reality check. Rain or Shine have now lost to Columbian for four straight conferences – this, after going 9-0 over the Dyip in their first three seasons in the league.
“Ewan ko nga eh. ‘Di ko alam. Dapat bigyan na lang kami ng kotse ng Columbian eh,” quipped Garcia with a chuckle. “I think, siguro, they feel that they match up well against us. They hit big shots at the end.
“We couldn’t go to the line – we only had eight attempts. We’re not ourselves.”
Still, Garcia isn’t pushing the panic button yet. But he hopes that his Elasto Painters will be able to pick up lessons from the loss, as they now gun for one of the Top Two spots that will give them a win-once incentive in the quarterfinals.
“We have to learn from this because we have one more game before we end the eliminations, and we have to go hard against Meralco if we want a chance to get one of the Top Two spots,” said Garcia, who has yet to reach the Finals.
“Pero yun ang kagandahan that we had a good start in the season – we started 7-1, so these losses are time for us to learn.”
