Rain or Shine import Pierre Henderson-Niles said on Sunday night after the Elasto Painters’ 98-94 Game 1 win over San Miguel that Beermen center June Mar Fajardo is “way better” than Barangay Ginebra big Greg Slaughter.
“He’s way better. He’s not soft,” Henderson-Niles said.
The Rain or Shine reinforcement spoke about Slaughter prior to the start of the Elasto Painters-Beermen semi-finals series, telling Spin.ph that Slaughter, whom he faced in the quarter-finals last week, “was soft.”
“Hell yeah. Everybody was talking about that big guy, Greg. He was soft. So we’re going to see what this battle (against June Mar Fajardo) is about,” Henderson-Niles told Spin.ph on Saturday.
Henderson-Niles added via Spin.ph that the Beermen are “going to have a problem.”
Fajardo scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Game 1, and Henderson-Niles was quick to appreciate his effort as he told reporters Fajardo was “not soft.”
Heading to Game 2, the Rain or Shine big hopes to avoid foul trouble to give have a better head-to-head duel against Fajardo.
“I just got in foul trouble. If did not get into foul trouble, it would have been a way better game,” Henderson-Niles, who scored 13 points and added nine boards in Game 1, shared.
“(My goal is to) not get in foul trouble and just play straight up. I kept pushing my hand out and they kept giving me fouls. I know how to judge, what to do, I have played in this game so let’s see how it turns out.”
Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao also reiterated that his import’s presence is big factor in the series.
“He is trying his best. He is getting frustrated sometimes, but I guess he understands his role. He is the inside presence for is. We don’t want to be dominated inside,” Guiao added.
