For almost 43 minutes, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters were able to keep pace — and even gain multiple leads — against the Blackwater Elite, Friday evening. Not only that, a win would have kept Rain or Shine on top of the standings with the San Miguel Beermen and the NLEX Road Warriors.
But unlike in their win against the TNT Katropa last December 22, the Elasto Painters faltered, struggling to execute late against a determined Elite squad.
“A lot of wasted opportunities, a lot of missed layups, and turnovers down the stretch,” lamented Chris Tiu, who has become one of the leaders of the team, after absorbing an 87-92 defeat.
For the second straight game, the sixth-year pro was the Elasto Painters’ main gunner, firing 14 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Down the stretch however, Tiu was limited to just a single point and an assist in the final five minutes of the game while the Elasto Painters were held to just two points in the final 1:51 of the contest. On the other end, the defense allowed Mac Belo to let loose as he scored seven of the last nine Blackwater points.
“Our defense was spotty today, we gave up a lot of open shots and most of their shots were unchallenged especially with a team that’s feeling confident,” furthered the 32-year-old guard.
“I guess it’s just a poor defensive game and complimented by a bad offensive game, disaster!”
Already without Jericho Cruz so far, Rain or Shine did not have Maverick Ahanmisi as well as he attended to his grandfather’s funeral in the States. Still, Tiu does not see it as an excuse to play poor defense that allowed Blackwater to knock down nine triples.
“It’s no excuse that we have injuries,” Tiu said. “In today’s game, I felt we could’ve used some help from Maverick because there were moments in the game we played without a legitimate point guard.
“We didn’t execute very well which led to easy points for them.”
With the injuries and absences the Elasto Painters are experiencing, Tiu knows that he has to produce more scoring-wise. Still, he does not want to delve away from what he does best which is to create.
“I didn’t even know na team high ang 14 points,” Tiu shared. “It’s still the same offensive mindset while getting everybody involved kasi point guard pa rin naman ako.
“It’s helping my game while also helping me earn more playing time especially now we need points from the wing position”
