Rain or Shine is mulling switching imports as it remains winless in the PBA Governors’ Cup after bowing to Barangay Ginebra, Sunday night.
Though he has no problems with Michael Qualls’ ability, head coach Yeng Guiao feels that the Elasto Painters are having chemistry woes with the returning cager, an indication of which is their 0-4 record in the season-ending tilt.
“‘Yung locals ko, okay naman ako e,” he said moments after their 116-108 loss at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. “But as good, as athletic, as aggressive as Michael is, I still think we’re having chemistry problems with our import.
“No problem with his intensity, with his effort, with his athletic ability. But sometimes, it’s how you gel with your teammates.
“It’s making people around you better. A really good import or not just a really good import, a player comes into a team and makes the team look better, I think that’s where the value is,” continued the straightforward mentor.
After Sunday night, Qualls is now averaging 26.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, together with 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals in 39.5 minutes.
The Gin Kings match saw him finish with 23 points and five boards, a noticeable dip from his last two outings where he tallied an average of 34.5 markers and 13.0 rebounds against TNT Tropang Giga and Converge, respectively.
His 23-point showing is now his second-lowest this conference after mustering only 14 markers on 22 shots in their conference debut versus Meralco.
“You may produce the numbers to score, you may produce yung the highlights, but the more important thing is if you’re able to make the people around you better. Iyon ang tinitingnan namin,” said Guiao.
The champion bench tactician, though, was quick to add that RoS hasn’t made any decision yet as they all want to clear their heads first after the defeat.
Furthermore, their next game is next Sunday against Blackwater, giving the team enough time to assess the situation thoroughly.
“We do not have any decision yet, but we’ll have to come to that decision soon,” said Guiao. “Siguro officially, we will have to decide tomorrow or Tuesday.
“Because, we have to bring in an import the latest Wednesday or Thursday, kasi Thursday para may tatlong araw siya makakapag ensayo sain bago yung game but if we’ll decide to stay with him, 0-4 na kami, baka wala nang chance.
“Meron pa naman kahit papano, pero tignan natin how we will resolve the problem tomorrow,” he added. “Medyo mahirap pa mag-isip, so we have to clear our heads tonight and determine what we need to do tomorrow.”
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