It wasn’t the finish Rain or Shine had wanted in its 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup campaign, but head coach Chris Gavina only has an appreciation for the effort and sacrifices his wards had given in yet another grueling conference.
“My overall message to our team was great appreciation. especially for what everybody brought, the sacrifices they made,” he told Tiebreaker Times.
“It’s one of those more memorable seasons because it was uniquely different in regards to anything that we’ve experienced, especially because of all the protocols that we had to really adjust and adapt,” the youthful mentor furthered.
“I really commend our guys for really doing their job on a day-to-day basis, and no one ever became cynical and made excuses.”
The Elasto Painters bowed out of the conference last Thursday after being swept in the quarterfinals by Magnolia, the very same team that they actually defeated in the elimination round through a 75-72 decision.
That game saw Santi Santillan deliver one of his best games, a microcosm of how RoS handles its young talent as he and fellow rookies Andrei Caracut and Anton Asistio also had their own opportunities to strut their stuff.
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“A lot of these guys definitely had some emergence,” Gavina said. “You know, Santillan has really emerged into one of our primary, probably, future players that are gonna be a consistent contributor for us.
“And guys like Asistio and Caracut, who weren’t on too many people’s radars going into the draft, have emerged as well in showcasing their capability of being vital cogs. I’m really proud of those young guys.”
And of course, there’s still the seasoned tandem of Javee Mocon and Rey Nambatac, with veterans like former two-time league Most Valuable Player James Yap, Beau Belga, and Gabe Norwood providing the leadership.
Photo by PBA Images
“I really like that group. I love the locker room. I love the mixture of our vets and our youth. There’s a very cool, unique blend for us,” Gavina said.
Unfortunately, all that wasn’t enough to repeat and upend the third-seeded Hotshots, who ruled the best-of-three series through double-digit wins.
“The playoffs are a whole different animal,” said the 42-year-old. “And Magnolia, from their previous struggles, and their playoff experience, those guys know what they’re getting into when this time of the year comes.
“And our guys were [thrown into a] baptism of fire. It wasn’t so much about fear, it was more of the unknown to a lot of our young guys.”
Gavina admitted that there were inconsistencies on their part, and lamented also being outrebounded — their foes collected 66 in Game One versus their 43, and then hauled down 63 in the clincher while they only had 36.
And in that Game Two defeat, BPC frontrunner Calvin Abueva gave them problems on the boards as he finished with 20 points and 19 caroms.
“We competed, but with the addition of Calvin over there, he’s really propelled them to another level,” offered the cager-turned-mentor. “And I see them making a deep run to these playoffs.
“But for us, as I said, there’s a great deal of inconsistencies on our end, especially on the rebounding. We were totally outrebounded in this series alone by twenty-plus in both our games,” he added.
Although they would’ve loved to stay longer in Pampanga, Gavina is already full of gratitude to his men for bringing Rain or Shine to a best-of-three quarterfinal series in his first conference as the ball club’s chief shot-caller.
“For me to have a group of guys buy-in so quickly in our first conference here and helping us get to a playoff position in a best-of-three right away, am so grateful for the effort these guys have put in for me,” he expressed.
“And you know, for the most part, I loved the way they competed. I can’t take anything away from the way Mocon, Nambatac, and even James Yap — moreso Beau — really went toe-to-toe as best as we could.”
And like any other defeat, Gavina and Co. are simply charging it to experience, believing that it would greatly help in the Elasto Painters’ aim in once again becoming a serious championship contender.
“It’s one of those things where you have to go through it to understand what you have to work on. And you know, our guys really hold themselves to a high level of accountability and that’s how we established our culture,” he said. “And these guys wanna get better. And that’s what’s great about our group of youth and veterans — even our vets want to get better because they get challenged by our young guys.
“And everybody is all going for one common cause, which is to get us back to that championship level basketball that Rain or Shine was known for — we are the last independent team to win a championship, 2016,” Gavina added.
“And we all know as a team, and if we’re really able to put things together, why can’t we get back to that level?”
