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Rain or Shine seeks to end three-game slide

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If there’s one wary of Rain or Shine’s three-game slide, it’s NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.

“Rain or Shine is a very strong team and well-coached, that’s why I’m quite surprised they lost their last three games,” said Fernandez. “But I know they will be back strong.”

Fernandez is hoping it would not be on Friday, when his Road Warriors and Elasto Painters collide in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It will be a tough game for us but we are always ready every game,” said Fernandez, totally expecting Rain or Shine to come out strong.

“We just have to bring back our defensive mentality if we want to win tomorrow.”

A win by NLEX would bounce it back from a 99-106 loss to Mahindra last week and vault it into a share of fourth-running spot.

Rain or Shine is simply hoping to arrest its freefall that relegated it into 11th spot, just half a game ahead of cellar-dwelling Star.

“We just want to focus on getting back into competitive form. We haven’t been competing in the last few games,” said E-Painters coach Yeng Guiao, whose team’s slide was highlighted by a 102-128 drubbing from Alaska last Saturday.

The losses, including ones against Meralco and Barangay Ginebra, could be directly attributed to the lack of chemistry between Antoine Wright, who came in as replacement for the injured Wayne Chism, and his local teammates.

Guiao is not one to single out anybody. “We all have to take responsibility for the situation we are in
right now,” he said.

Wright has been averaging just 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two games he has played in, compared to NLEX counterpart Al Thornton’s norms of 35.25 and 9.0. Yet Guiao is still hoping his import would live up to the promise the grizzled tactician has seen in him.

“Antoine Wright needs to impose himself more in the course of the game,” stated Guiao. “I am positive that he can play a bigger role and show more leadership in our next game.”

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