After Rain or Shine had lost Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals, 86-78, Sunday, Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao was disappointed with the discrepancy in free throws between the two squads, saying that it was “just too big.”
“If you look at the stats, both Game 4 and Game 5, Alaska has just been given too many free throws. The discrepancy is just too big,” Guiao claimed.
“Looking at the other numbers, hindi naman nagkakalayo lahat eh. Ang nagkalayo lang talaga yung 27 free throws na binigay sa kanila the whole game, kami 11 lang ang nakuha namin. It was a close game. The score does not reflect how close this game was. Those free throws really mattered a lot.”
The Alaska Aces had 27 free throw attempts in Game 5, and made 23. Rain or Shine, in contrast, only had 11 attempts, and hit eight foul shots.
“If we can minimize giving them that many free throws, then we can finish it on Wednesday,” the mentor said. “There are very minor adjustments to make. They know our game, we know their game. It’s just we have to be able to be conscious, be aware we can’t be in penalty situation early in the quarter.”
Although Guiao gave Alaska credit for being aggressive in attacking the basket, he also wanted to seek clarification from the league’s Commissioner’s Office, believing some of the foul calls weren’t fouls.
Guiao even singled out a loose ball foul whistled on Beau Belga after contact with Calvin Abueva on a rebound play.
“Yun lang ang gusto ko ma-clarify dahil I think not all of the fouls that were called on us were fouls. Yung rebound ni Beau kay Abueva na finollow-up niya, I don’t think that was a foul,” Guiao shared.
Paul Lee and the Elasto Painters took just 11 free throws in Game 5
“All the refs were hypnotized by the acting job by Abueva. Kapag kami binangga, flop, kapag sila umarte, foul kami. Sobrang dami ng foul namin, sobrang dami nilang free throws.”
“Sa akin, the story of this game was free throws, plain and simple. In a championship series, if they had 27 and we had only 11, wala pa kaming kalahati. They had 16 more chances to win the game. Kami, agrabyado ka doon kapag ganoon ang sitwasyon,” he added.
Nevertheless, Guiao said he will still maintain a positive outlook heading to Game 6, and hopes the Elasto Painters can take advantage of the two chances they have.
“We are still in a good place. We have two chances to win the championship. We will still make the adjustments. We will make full use of that advantage, having that luxury,” he shared.
“Alaska now has the momentum but it does not mean they can run over us and take over all the way with that momentum. They are still in a bad place, we are still in a good place. We still have two chances to win the championship. They still have to beat us twice, we only have to beat them once. I am really looking at it at a positive perspective.”
“I won’t make any more predictions, except that in the end I believe we will still win this one,” he added.
