RAIN OR SHINE GETS BACK IN THE GROOVE
RAIN or Shine’s outside shooting still needs a lot of improvement, but head coach Yeng Guiao is not complaining much.
Especially after his Elasto Painters rediscovered some of their usual fiery touch to come out a 103-93 winner over Barako Bull Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Bruno Sundov scored a game-high 27 points, but Guiao pointed out the three-point shooting of the likes of Paul Lee, JR Quinahan, Jeff Chan and even Beau Belga provided the game’s biggest difference.
“We shot the ball a lot better than our previous games… that’s what made things easier for Bruno inside,” said Guiao after his team went 10-for-28 from beyond the arc, a stark improvement from their last two games when they only made a combined nine of 53 three-point tries.
“We were looking for Jeff, Paul and some of our bigs to get their usual percentages from the perimeter and they did,” added Guiao. “When we’re shooting the ball pretty well the inside gets a bit more comfortable for Bruno to operate.”
Those treys also came at the most opportune of times, first helping give Rain or Shine its first 15-point lead at 40-25 and quashing any uprising Barako got to muster.
As a whole, the E-Painters shot 30-for-82 from the field, nothing to exactly brag about, but enough to snap it out of a two-game skid and improve its overall record to 6-3.
After averaging just 77.5 points in those losses (to Talk ‘N Text and Petron Blaze), Rain or Shine also gave Guiao his wish by making it a high-scoring and up-tempo kind of game.
“We want a transition, speedy game and it worked for us,” he said. “We wanted a high-scoring, fast-paced game and that’s the way we like it.”
Worse off was Barako Bull as it absorbed a fifth straight loss after a 3-1 conference start and dropped to 3-6.
Evan Brock finished with a team-high 23 points and a game-best 14 rebounds, but he sat out long stretches of the game due to foul trouble.
Danny Seigle, JC Intal, Allein Maliksi and Mick Pennisi also finished in double figures each, but chief spark Josh Urbiztondo was limited to just three points although he had 10 assists.
Despite those numbers, the Energy Cola still made it a tight game for the most part, a fact that did not escape Guiao’s notice.
“They gave us some scares,” admitted Guiao. “Even without an import they played well, kept themselves in the game.”
Any threat was quickly quelled, however, especially after Mark Macapagal buried a triple to make it a 69-72 game early in the fourth period. Chris Tiu quickly answered with his own trey, sparking a 19-11 exchange in which Belga and Quinahan boomed in a triple each and Sundov completed a three-point play, and suddenly it was a 91-80 count. (NC)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 103 – Sundov 27, Lee 20, Quinahan 11, Chan 10, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 6, Tiu 5, Belga 5, Cruz 4, Ibanes 4, Matias 2, Tang 1, Arana 0.
BARAKO BULL 93 – Borck 23, Seigle 20, Intal 17, Maliksi 12, Pennisi 10, Urbiztondo 3, Macapagal 3, Kramer 2, Allado 2, Villanueva 1, Anthony 0, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 19-18, 46-39, 70-66, 103-93
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
