Rain or Shine faced Star in a crucial affair Sunday, and appeared to have wanted it more as they tallied a 103-88 win to improve to 5-4 in the PBA Governors’ Cup team standings.
Bodies were crashing to the floor; no easy baskets were given away and shots from the outside were all contested, making it hard for the Hotshots to dictate the pace.
Wendell McKines was at the forefront of the grit the Elasto Painters showed, scoring 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting and grabbing 14 boards.
For the Rain or Shine reinforcement, playing with effort and leaving everything on the floor is exactly what the team needed.
“That’s all we can ask for,” he said. “Sometimes shots are not going to fall and the ball is not going to your way but what you can control is your effort and you can control how smart you play the game.”
The Elasto Painters outrebounded the Hotshots, 45-39, and drew 55 points from their bench. Overall, the Hotshots also shot a miserable 18 percent from three-point land.
“That is what we came out to do tonight and accomplished it. Star is a professional team so I do not know if I can say we wanted it more but we wanted to play hard and outwork them. That’s what I tried to do,” McKines added.
The import also shared that in order to take Rain or Shine to the next level, they must play with the same amount of effort defensively, and have a great offensive flow.
“We are flowing. I love playing and it is all coming toegther like work of art. We just enjoy this team and continue to critique our craft. We just need to put consistent effort from everybody and outworking the next team and getting stops on the defensive end.”
