Rain or Shine is set to find another import after Greg Smith got hurt during their eventual loss to NLEX in the PBA Governors’ Cup, Saturday night.
Head coach Yeng Guiao said that the staff will ‘burn the phone lines from today until tomorrow’ as they hope to find a replacement for the 32-year-old ahead of their meeting with Phoenix Super LPG on Wednesday.
“We have to bring in somebody by Wednesday or earlier,” said the champion mentor moments after their 110-99 defeat at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Smith pulled a hamstring during the first half and the coaches deemed it best to sit him out for the entire second half to no longer aggravate the injury.
He left the match with only three points, which he all got from the foul line, three rebounds, and two steals against four turnovers in 15 minutes.
“‘Di na namin sinugal nung second half,” said Guiao of his import, who was averaging 26.5 points and 5.0 rebounds prior to the game.
This puts an end to Smith’s PBA stint, which was seven years in the making after exceeding the 6-foot-5 height limit in the 2016 Governors’ Cup.
All in all, he played just three games for RoS. He missed their duel versus Terrafirma after encountering clearance issues.
Smith just won one game with the club, which was his debut against Blackwater last February 12 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Guiao and Co. only have their fingers crossed for a new import to be found as soon as possible, as Rain or Shine is hoping to win their next two matches against the Fuel Masters and NorthPort to keep their playoff bid alive.
“We still have a chance eh. Pag manalo kami against Phoenix tsaka NorthPort we can catch the last bus,” said the 63-year-old as they are currently 2-6 in the standings. “So we will have to make an effort to find a replacement.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
