When a domino falls, the rest follow
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters were the heavy-favorites entering Friday night’s match-up against the Meralco Bolts. On paper, the Elasto Painters are outscoring the Bolts 9.5 points per outing and out-rebounding them by 7.8 boards per game. Moreover, they just came from a close overtime loss to the league-leading San Miguel Beermen just seven days ago.
“Like I said after our loss to San Miguel, ang worry ko is who we will come out,” first-year head coach Caloy Garcia said.
“But we came out flat.
“We played a terrible game, offensively and defensively. Hindi nagkakatugma ang mga players sa loob,” he furthered.
But stats and expectations were thrown out the window as Meralco was able to score a huge upset against Rain or Shine, 82-72. Moreover, the Bolts surprisingly led for the majority of the game, 44 minutes and 23 seconds to be exact.
Right from the get-go, the Bolts played with a sense of urgency that was expected of them as this was a do-or-die tilt for them. Rain or Shine was not able to at least match the energy their opponents had, falling behind 20-35 to end the first 12 minutes of the contest.
“That’s one of the main reasons why they won the game. They got off to a good start,” lamented Garcia.
The Meralco lead went to as high as 16 points in the final frame but former league MVP James Yap and Jewel Ponferada were able to slice the lead down to half, 69-77, with 3:35 remaining.
Even if they were able to get the stops, the Elasto Painters tried to force their shots, taking quick threes and tough lay-ins that did not pan out.
“Every time we tried to mount a comeback, we’re turning the ball over,” Garcia furthered.
“Sabi ko nga sa mga players ‘Bakit natin minamadali when we’re already back in the game?’”
Rain or Shine finished the game shooting their conference-worst 31 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 52-55. Moreover, they committed 19 turnovers in the game, a point higher than their norm.
And the loss creating a logjam at the middle, Garcia is now lowering the team’s short-term goal as gaining a top two seed is now becoming a distant dream.
“As much as possible, we want to be in the top six. Yung top two, saka na ‘yan. If we have a chance, why not?,” he shared.
“Pero ngayon we’re just looking forward on winning another game first.”
