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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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04
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26
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
04
26
2024
Before they joined the poll exercise, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Alaska Milk Aces square off in Game Two of the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven titular series, with the former riding the crest of their 105-97 win in the series opener Friday night.
Odds are stacked on ROS’s side in Game Two set at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum as the Elasto Painters showed a superb form in their Game One conquest of the Aces.
The E-Painters ripped apart the vaunted Alaska press and withstood Rob Dozier’s PBA-best 41-point output with a sleek game that had the team in control more than three-fourths of the way.
The ROS backcourt ably handed the Alaska press, limiting the team to only 13 turnovers and allowing the E-Painters to run an impeccable offense spiked by 14-of-27 three-pointers.
“It’s nice to be back in the finals, and it’s nice to win Game One. But it’s not over until you win four games. They’re gonna be a lot tougher in Game Two,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
The fiery ROS mentor, however, didn’t hide so much elation on how they won Game One.
“That was really sweet because you make them pay for pressing. We will push the ball every time. They know that. Everybody knows we want a fast game,” Guiao said.
“We’ve been worried about their press. We know they’re the best pressing team, but we handled it pretty well. I don’t think we turned the ball over too many times. We handled the ball pretty well in the backcourt,” he added.
Alaska coach Alex Compton admitted they have to rethink their ploy.
“You make a mistake, they make you pay,” said Compton ruing crucial lapses committed at the start and in the crunch Friday night.
Guards Paul Lee, Jericho Cruz, Chris Tiu, Gabe Norwood and Maverick Ahanmisi, in particular, handled well the Alaska press. They anchored ROS’s press break, leading to a 17-5 advantage on fastbreak points.
The E-Painters also had a huge advantage in points off turnovers at 27-10.
Shooting 42-of-87 from the field overall, the E-Painters put in the biggest points allowed by the Aces in their last eight games.
Among the league’s best defensive teams, Alaska yielded an average of only 93.5 points before the series opener.
Among the key factors for the E-Painters was coach Guiao keeping fresh legs on the floor all throughout the
game.
Guiao played 13 players with almost equal minutes while Compton stuck most of the time with core players Rob Dozier, Calvin Abueva, Noy Baclao, Cyrus Baguio and RJ Jazul. The only other Aces playing long minutes were Chris Banchero, Dondon Hontiveros and Sonny Thoss.
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