In an impressive wire-to-wire affair, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters kept the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at bay to advance to the 2016 PBA Commissioner Cup Semifinals, 102-89, held at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum Tuesday evening.
As the series ended in a quick sweep, coach Yeng Guiao stressed that they hadn’t expected to get the job done in such a dominating fashion. “We didn’t expect to go 2-0 against Ginebra. We knew it wass going to be a hard series,” said a humbled Guiao. “We couldn’t feel our import could adjust quickly, kasi hingal siya. In a few days, he’ll be in better shape”
The Elasto Painters only outscored Ginebra by three in terms of transition offense, 13-10. However, their fast offense had been key and was their engine for the entire 48-minute match.
“I kept emphasizing that Ginebra couldn’t keep up with us on running. It’s our speed that helped us. I saw they used 8-9 guys last game, and I feel like using more of our players and ran against them,” added Guiao.
Jeff Chan and JR Quinahan once again led their crew, scoring with 22 and 21 markers respectively. Quinahan mentioned that they had stuck to the game plan of executing their offense fast. “Wala naman kaming ginawang special. Basta takbuhan lang namin, pagurin namin big man nila at i-limit namin import nila at si Slaughter,” the Player of the Game said.
Having been up 19-17 in the first quarter, Rain or Shine’s blistering offense ended the period on a 12-4 spurt. This enabled the Painters to cruise to an early double-digit gap that they were able to retain for the next three quarters.
Before the half, Ginebra showed signs of life, with their starters doing the damage. They were able to cut the lead down to six at the break, but lost to another powerful third by Rain or Shine. Mav Ahanmisi ignited the Painters scoring rally as the team restored a 71-60 double digit lead with four minutes to go. Before the final quarter, Rain or Shine held an imposing 77-64 lead.
The team maintained composure despite Ginebra’s final rally in the final stanza. Locking down on defense, the Painters were able to get easy layups in transition at the other end courtesy of Jeff Chan and a couple of crucial baskets by Quinahan down the stretch. On the other hand, Ginebra were unable to make successive stops; ending another disappointing campaign in the league.
Overall, Coach Yeng Guiao was pleased with how the Painters played team basketball allthroughout. “We’re not getting dominated inside (by Ginebra’s bigs),” he reflected after the game. “JR stepped up and stopped the momentum of the other team. He’s steady this conference. Gabe and Jireh did an excellent job on the import, Jeffers made his scoring but he really had to bleed for points”.
Moreover, the Painters maintained a 47% clip from the floor, and committed less turnovers compared to Ginebra, 14-10. For the losing Kings, Jeffers topped the tea with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and six dimes.
Rain or Shine await the winner of the Star-San Miguel series that will be decided tomorrow night. The semifinals will begin on Friday.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine (102) – Chan 22, Quinahan 21, Ahanmisi 13, Henderson Niles 10, Almazan 6, Norwood 6, Belga 5, Cruz 5, Tiu 5, Teng 4, Lee 3, Ponferada 2, Ibanes 0.
Ginebra (89) – Jeffers 27, Aguilar 14, Slaughter 14, Tenorio 11, Caguioa 10, Devance 7, Ellis 4, Thompson 2, Helterbrand 0, Marcelo 0, Mercado 0.
Quarterscores: 31-21, 50-44, 77-64, 102-89.
Photo courtesy of PBA Images
