As a handful of mediamen approached James Yap and asked him for a few minutes of his time regarding Rain or Shine’s 36-point loss to the Star Hotshots, the 35-year-old, through a hand signal, respectfully declined.
The reporters then obliged and respected Yap’s decision to keep mum.
He may have appeared collected and all, but, even if he does not say it, there is that kind of disappointment circling in his mind on a Monday night.
The Elasto Painters lost big, and are now down 0-1 in the best-of-three quarterfinal series. But what made the defeat more emotional was that that it came at the hands of his former team.
For three games, Yap is still listless when facing his former team. Making it sting more is that they are at the brink of another elimination.
But unfortunately for him, the Hotshots were on another level.
As Yap always iterated before, that reaching the 10K club is far from his mind, that winning will always be his priority. That is something real winners always think about. He and his side may have lost, but they are not yet out of contention.
And that is what the proud son of Escalante City, Negros Occidental told mediamen despite saying “no” for an interview. The Elasto Painters will aim to turn things around come Game Two on Wednesday.
“Bounce back lang,” said Yap, as he turned around and walked away, symbolically moving on from the sour defeat to set his sights into the next game.
