It was a frustrated Caloy Garcia that emerged from the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ locker room at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum, and the head coach did not hide his disappointment as his team had absorbed their second straight loss Sunday night.
“I’m concerned about it,” admitted the 15-year veteran tactician regarding the slump, shortly after the Elasto Painters’ 105-103 defeat to the now-4-0 Alaska Aces, which pulled down their once perfect slate to 3-2.
“I still believe we could’ve beaten them. We improved on the three point shots but the turnovers today was the big story, and in the end-game, they [Alaska] made their shots,” added Garcia, referring to their 17 team turnovers.
But what really drew the ire of Garcia was his players’ performances, particularly two of his floor generals — Chris Tiu and Maverick Ahanmisi — who, in his own words, did not step up to the plate in a time needed the most.
“I didn’t get anything else except from Jericho [Cruz] and Gabe [Norwood], so basically, my point guards have to step up. I didn’t get anything from Chris and Maverick in this game and they play an important role in this team,” Garcia rued.
“They have to learn how to control the team. They couldn’t [even] bring down the ball,” he added regarding Tiu and Ahanmisi, who scored three and nothing, respectively.
However, Rain or Shine still had one positive takeaway in the loss — the emergence of Mike Tolomia. The rookie only finished with nine, but all of those came in the final frame that helped Rain or Shine even take the lead, 91-87, midway.
“I think the rookie was the veteran player today,” Garcia lauded of the Gilas Cadet.
“At least we know now that Mike can really play in this league. That’s another added weapon siguro once he gets longer minutes. And I think he deserves longer minutes.”
After Sunday night, the Elasto Painters will now head to a 10-day break before going back to business to face Phoenix Fuel Masters. And for Garcia, they see the game as a must-win situation.
“We play Phoenix on the 12th. It’s a must-win for us. We can’t lose consecutive games anymore.”
