REVERSAL OF FORTUNES
The shoe is on the other foot – and Rain or Shine has two chances to jam it in.
Two years ago, San Mig Super Coffee, then known as the B-Meg Llamados, fell behind, 3-1, to the Elasto Painters in a tumultuous PBA Governors’ Cup Finals only to win the next two games and force a Game 7.
Though Rain or Shine and coach Yeng Guiao ultimately clinched the winner-take-all match to hand team owners Terry Que and Raymond Yu their coveted first PBA crown, B-Meg and coach Tim Cone had displayed remarkable grit and resiliency in clawing back from the grave.
It’s now the Elasto Painters’ turn to show that they too have the tools and the resolve to fight back from such a massive deficit.
The hole they have fallen in after two heartbreaking setbacks in the best-of-7 series is deep enough to trigger concern though not historically impossible to extricate from.
From watching video tapes of that 2012 championship, the E-Painters could probably find out just how the Llamados did it.
And similarly, viewing Games 5 and 6 of that Finals could offer James Yap and the Mixers some clues as to how the E-Painters almost let the title slip away and thereby learn from them.
Still the multi-colored victory balloons will be up there on the ceiling of the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night, the San Mig faithful will be in full force and star forward Marc Pingris will be warming up even if he has to wear an eye patch when the Mixers gun for the championship of the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup.
Holding a commanding 3-1 lead, San Mig would be a sight to behold, especially if Pingris, who got a finger in his right eye courtesy of Rain or Shine’s JR Quinahan with 4:59 left in the third quarter of Game 4 Friday, makes an appearance and actually plays.
Pingris’ medical condition remains uncertain since he was taken to the hospital after the accident which occurred during a fierce rebound play under the ROS basket.
Team doctor Raffy Sanchez said, however, that Pingris would need probably just 24 hours of healing time and therefore available for Game 5.
But it was touch and go for a while for Pingris.
“Ayaw ko dumilat. Masakit pag nakakakita ng ilaw,” Pingris told Spin.ph after the incident. “May dugo yung mata ko. Nasugatan. Masakit na rin kasi yung kaliwa. Nairita na rin. Di ko kaya dumilat.”
The Mixers, behind Marc Barroca and rookie Ian Sangalang, battled back from six points down going to the final period and withstood a fierce challenge from Paul Lee in claiming the fifth game, 93-90, turning the tables on the E-Painters who pushed them on the brink in 2012.
“We got fortunate we got two of those (close wins in Games 3 and 4). We won the battle, but we hope we didn’t lose the war with Ping,” said Cone, who is seeking his 16th career championship which will carry him past the all-time record of the legendary Baby Dalupan.
Far from throwing in the towel, however, Guiao and the E-Painters are wiping the dirt from their faces as they prepare to haul themselves out of the hole from which only a couple of teams have come back from.
“It’s a tough loss,” said Guiao, who steered from the bench Lee’s game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer before losing control on the down flight. “But we’re not giving up. We’ll come back Sunday. We’ll try to get back into this series.”
Guiao had famously declared the 2012 finals in the bag for Rain or Shine after Lee went down with a dislocated shoulder in a Game 2 loss, fanning his team’s emotions in winning the next two games and taking a 3-1 lead.
The E-Painters eventually did wrap it up, but only after watching James Yap and the Llamados come back to tie the series, 3-3, before surrendering to fatigue and Jamelle Cornley in Game Seven, 83-76.
They don’t have that luxury now. What they do have instead is a dilemma which calls for the same amount of commitment which drove them after Game 2 that year.
With things looking dire as it faces two do-or-die situations, Rain or Shine is in desperate need of a blood-curdling battle cry, a compelling focal point from which to rally from.
The time may be ripe for a Knute Rockne “Win one for the Gipper” kind of locker room pep talk. (WJRHT)
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