Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao felt glad about the improvement he saw despite the team’s unceremonious exit in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Elasto Painters bowed out of the quarterfinals following a crushing 126-96 beatdown at the hands of Bay Area. Still, the fiery mentor considers reaching the playoffs’ first round in his first conference back as an achievement in itself.
“To us, sabi ko nga, it’s already an improvement – ‘yung hindi sila pumapasok ng quarters, at least nakapasok ngayon,” said Guiao. “Mas mahirap pumasok ngayon kasi 13 teams tayo at ‘di naman nadagdagan yung [playoff] slots natin.
“The first conference has been a period of adjustment for us. At least, even in a period of adjustment, nagkaroon ng konting progress,” the champion bench tactician furthered.
“Nagkaroon na ng improvement.”
Rain or Shine failed to make it past the elimination round in the previous two conferences under Chris Gavina. That included a 3-8 campaign in the 2021-22 Governors’ Cup – the team’s worst record in four years.
But in Guiao’s return to the club, he steered to two titles which undeniably reenergized the youth-laden crew. However, the growing pains of adopting his philosophies were noticeable as seen by their up-and-down run in the preliminaries.
Still, the Elasto Painters were good enough to make the quarters after edging out NLEX, their mentor’s previous team, in the playoff for no. 8.
They would’ve wanted to at least extend their conference against the twice-to-beat Dragons, but the guest team from Hong Kong was just too much.
Guiao, though, remains proud of what his team has attained in the mid-season tournament, thus the excitement on their part entering the Governors’ Cup in January now that he has become more familiar with his wards.
“We’re looking forward to the next conference because we’ve had more time, I’ve had more experience with the new guys, the guys we have now,” he said.
Having more time prior to the season-ending meet will also enable Guiao and Co. to find an import that would fit the team’s needs best, something that he didn’t have when he came back prior to the Commissioner’s last September.
It could be recalled that the Elasto Painters had already brought in Daniel Ochefu for the conference featuring 6-foot-10 imports and below, only to replace the Nigerian cager with Steve Taylor Jr. about a week prior to the tilt.
Taylor Jr., though, was eventually sent home after seven games, with Ryan Pearson taking over his place for the rest of the way.
Pearson, 32, actually meets the Governors’ Cup height limit for imports at 6-foot-6 – a ruling set in the previous edition of the conference and will be adopted still. But Guiao said that they are also looking for other options.
(C) PBA Images
“We will still consider him kasi pagdating naman ng ano, pare-parehas nila ng height eh. Nasabak lang siya dito sa mga iba talaga na malalaki,” he said. “We are not counting him out, but we are considering other options.
“Of course, ‘di ko naman gina-guarantee na magaling ‘yung import [namin] kasi tiyambahan din ‘yan eh, but at least you can be deliberate, you can choose without being pressured by time,” Guiao added.
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