After winning the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters have yet to reach a conference semifinal. On the other hand, James Yap’s streak extends a little further as his last semifinals appearance was back in the 2015 Governors Cup.
And the streak for both the franchise and Yap continued as Rain or Shine was dethroned by the Ricardo Ratliffe-led Star Hotshots, 84-69, Wednesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
As the franchise is now on an unfortunate stretch, star guard James Yap, now in his second conference with Rain or Shine after being shipped by Star in the off-season, lamented the team’s inconsistency on the defensive end.
“Ang lagi naman kasi namin pinaguusapan yung consistency namin sa defense. Kailangan yung defense talaga ang bigyan namin ng pansin dahil medyo maraming lapses,” said Yap, who only scored six points in the series after averaging 13.45 points during the elimination round.
“Hopefully ma-correct namin next conference. Lagi na lang kaming quarterfinals, baka naman next conference mag-improve kami maging semis naman ‘di ba.”
The two-time Most Valuable Player also has his personal struggles ever since he was traded. Since the All-Filipino Cup, he has yet to reign victorious over his former team. Yap has now lost four straight times against the Hotshots.
But the seven-time champion pointed out that frustrations are not building up in his part despite his own slump.
“Wala naman eh. Basta alam mo sa sarili mo na binigay mo yung best mo, kahit anong mangyari, kung talo, talo talaga. Kung talo ka, iisipin mo na lang na binigay mo yung best mo so walang pagsisisi,” the 13-year league veteran explained.
The 35-year-old could have compensated for that personal skid by attaining 10,000 career points over Star. But with the way he played, the feat was left unachieved, and the fitting story has become another what-could-have-been.
But then again, as he usually iterates, that feat is something he is not concerned about.
“Honestly hindi ko talaga iniisip yun,” said Yap, who is just 18 points away from joining the 10K club.
“Basta darating na lang yun kung darating, ‘di ba? Hindi ko iniisip yun. Hindi natin nakuha this quarterfinals, meron pa namang next conference eh, so baka dun na lang.”
