McLEAN PLAYS OUT SWAN SONG VS. BOLTS
ALEXANDER McLean now has a chance to make his short stint for Rain or Shine a very memorable one.
McLean should pull out all stops when he suits up for the Elasto Painters for the last time when they collide with Meralco at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in the PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A new import, Wayne Chism, is set to plane in Thursday and reinforce Rain or Shine in its next game against GlobalPort on Monday.
The former University of Tennessee stars was previously enlisted by Barako Bull for the conference before being forced to leave to settle a dispute with his Hungarian ballclub. But not after a tuneup game with Alaska, where he tallied 25 points and 16 rebounds.
More than the numbers, it is in providing Rain or Shine with the energy, poise and hustle points that are expected of Chism.
“We are not our usual selves. We are turning the ball over four or five times more than before and we don’t have our usual energy on defense,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. “Unless we overcome these things we will be in trouble.”
McLean tried, but could not provide his team the other, more needed intangibles.
In the four games he has played here, McLean averaged 22.75 points and 15.25 rebounds, decent numbers but not enough to stoke a team that came into the conference as among the favorites following its runner-up finish in the Philippine Cup.
And the E-Painters know it is not only McLean who should step up when they try to arrest an alarming three-game skid that has relegated them to the bottom half of the standings.
“We are desperate for a win,” admitted Guiao.
That is what Meralco is looking out for.
“Rain or Shine is an upper echelon team. Their early struggle is dangerous. They will come out fighting and we must be ready,” said coach Ryan Gregorio, whose own Bolts are looking to follow up on their stirring 109-98 victory over Air21 last Sunday, when they fought back from a 20-point third quarter deficit.
McLean tallied 18 points and 13 rebounds in a 74-91 loss to San Mig Super Coffee last Saturday, but those numbers pale compared to Brian Butch’s 40 and 31 against the Express.
Still, Gregorio also knows the E-Painters are bound to snap out of their funk anytime soon, so he has laid down a basic gameplan for his team to avert being a victim.
“We must share the ball, shoot well from the three and limit their second chance points,” enumerated Gregorio.
Guiao knows his team will be having its hands full. “Meralco is coming from a strong performance and we are still struggling for some consistency in our game,” he said. (NC)
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