RAIN OR SHINE GETS BACK ON TRACK
If Wednesday’s game proved to be Alexander McLean’s swan song for the Elasto Painters, consider this stint to be a happy ending.
With a foot already out of the door, McLean proved to be a steady operator for Rain or Shine as they came away with a 96-79 win over Meralco in the 2014 PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
“Today, we played our defense, and when we do that, we win games,” said Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao. “We also had problems in our turnovers in the past few games, and we’ve managed to bring our turnovers down tonight.”
He added, “We’re just really starting to get our rhythm going. I hope its not too late. We still consider ourselves in a hole and in a struggle, so we need to win a couple of games to climb out of that hole.
“We probably just got temporary relief right now but we have to keep on winning if we want to stay for the rest of the conference,” added Guiao, who got a double-double of 23 markers and 16 boards from McLean.
“Our import played good today,” Guiao said of McLean.
Jeff Chan had 21 points, while Paul Lee and Gabe Norwood finished with 16 and 13, respectively for Rain or Shine, which improved its record to 2-3.
“Overall, the key is our defense. We were able to limit them under 40% (in field goal percentage). In this game, they only had 38.5%. Our turnovers are down to 11, as we’re committing 18 to 19 turnovers in the past few games,” Guiao added.
As a big cloud of doubt lies above McLean’s head, the E-Painters coach didn’t sugarcoat their situation with their import, saying they “will talk about McLean’s status (Thursday). We have our options open, but our next game is on Monday, so we need to decide by (Thursday) in practice on what we want to do.
“He played good today, but the question is can he be consistent and can he take that to the playoffs? That’s the big question. And how does he compare to the other imports? We will have to decide on that by lunch time (Thursday),” added the feisty Kapampangan coach.
Guiao also bared that their replacement import, Barako Bull’s original choice Dwayne Chism, is “ready to go,” but he added: “I’m still not 100-percent (in the decision). But I guess the coaching staff and management will have to put our inputs before we make the final decision.”
With Rain or Shine enjoying a 15-point cushion in the third, Meralco slowly chipped away at the Elast Painters’lead and got to within 79-75 with seven minutes still left in the fourth quarter courtesy of a Cliff Hodge basket.
But when Jared Dillinger scored on a drive in the 5:14 mark of the payoff period, 83-79, it proved to be the last conversion for the Bolts as they were held scoreless for the remainder of the game even as Rain or Shine delivered a 13-0 finishing kick to end the game, highlighted by a Paul Lee trey at the buzzer.
Gary David led Meralco with 20 points, while Dillinger poured in 14, as Hodge dropped 12 for the Bolts who dropped to an even 3-3 slate.
Suffering from a bum stomach, Meralco import Brian Butch was limited to a conference-low 11 points to go with 13 rebounds. He was emotional as the final buzzer sounded, as replacement issues also surrounded his status with the Bolts. (RL)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 96 – McLean 23, Chan 21, Lee 16, Norwood 13, Belga 7, Cruz 6, Arana 2, Almazan 2, Tiu 2, Ibanes 2, Rodriguez 2, Tang 0, Nuyles 0, Teng 0.
MERALCO 79 – David 29, Dillinger 14, Hodge 12, Butch 11, Hugnatan 7, Artadi 4, Ildefonso 2, Sena 2, Guevarra 2, Wilson 2, Mandani 2, Al-Hussaini 1, Caram 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarterscores: 23-17, 44-33, 72-60, 96-79.
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