Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao believes that the pressure is more on San Miguel than it is for his team as the two are set to face one another in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semifinals beginning on Friday.
The veteran mentor did concede that they can’t match up vis-a-vis against the league’s perennial contenders, but it’s not to say that they’re waving the white flag whatsoever as they vowed to hang in there and compete the hardest.
“Hindi mo kayang i-match-up ang San Miguel, kailangan maghanap ka ng paraan para talunin ang San Miguel. Kasi tao for tao, wala eh,” he said.
“Experience, playoff, wala. Sa coaching, galing ni Jorge. Assistant ko dati ‘yan, Baka may nakuha namang ano sa akin ‘yan ano. Resources, malayo. I think the series is for them to lose. But we will just be there. We will just hang around.”
Guiao offered as much shortly after the Elasto Painters escaped TNT by way of a 110-109 decision in their do-or-die quarterfinal affair on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium for the club’s first semis trip in five years.
The last time that RoS reached the said phase was in the 2019 Philippine Cup, where the team was only a win away from the Finals but fell short against eventual runner-up Magnolia in the best-of-7 affair that went the distance.
For the outspoken mentor, to have gone this far is an achievement per se given that they are still in the process of developing the youth-laden crew.
“We want San Miguel to feel all the pressure. Dahil wala namang pressure sa amin,” he said. “Panalo na kami, champion na kami sa isip namin e.”
That’s why Guiao very much looking forward to the best-of-7 series ahead against the defending conference champions, eager to see how his up-and-coming wards would go up against June Mar Fajardo and Co.
“I want to see my guards fare against Terrence and CJ; I want to see Keith Datu bumping bodies with June Mar,” Guiao said.
“I want to see Beau leading the young guys kasi siya ‘yung pinaka-leader namin; I want to see Gabe bringing this team together kasi siya naman talaga ‘yung isa pa naming leader aside from Beau. ‘Yun lang.”
Six players scored in double figures versus Tropang Giga, led by the 25 of Gian Mamuyac. Others who stepped up were Jhonard Clarito (17), Santi Santillan (15), Keith Datu (11), Adiran Nocum (11), and Shaun Ildefonso (10).
But it would really be intriguing to see how they would perform versus a team that’s loaded from top to bottom that they’re now called the ‘Death 15’ after being known for their ‘Death Five’ during their dominance not so long ago.
“Sabi ko nga, we’re playing the long game. It will take one or two more years before these guys really develop and then — pagka nasa amin pa sila — pwede tayo mag-usap na siguro panglaban na talaga,” Guiao said with a chuckle.
“Pero lalaban lang kami,” he added.
“Baka maka-tsamba pa rin. Kung five percent lang yung tsansa namin manalo, baka matapat sa five percent ‘di ba?”
