Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao saw a 24-point Rain or Shine lead evaporate in the second half after the San Miguel Beermen switched to a zone defense, taking away the Elasto Painters’ inside game while forcing them to take outside shots.
The three-pointers Rain or Shine attempted, unfortunately, just failed to hit the mark as the Painters fizzled in Game 1 Thursday and yielded a 101-95 loss to the Beermen.
Rain or Shine was outscored 34-19 in the third quarter, and the Beermen entered the fourth ahead 80-79. Guiao said making those threes against the zone would have made a staggering difference.
“We were not able to make those threes. To me, the game, if we are going to simplify it, we were just not able to break down the zone with our three-point shooting,” he said.
The Elasto Painters shot 11-for-45 from long distance (24 percent). The team is 1-2 when shooting below league average from three-point area.
“That is not our usual percentage,” Guioa added. “If we could have made two or three more, we could have slowed them down or stopped their momentum. Next time we will be more prepared against the zone.”
But even after losing the huge advantage Rain or Shine built, Guiao said the game is not in anyway something to be embarrassed about.
“The best teams and coaches lose in different ways. Sa tagal mo sa liga mangyayari talaga yan. Better teams have lost in worse ways,” he added.
The mentor is now looking for ways to adjust especially in a series which he believes will “boil down to the end game.”
“It’s just that we made mistakes in the end game. To me, this is going to be good, long series. We will make some adjustments in the next game especially against the zone.”
