PLAY-ALIKES BATANG PIER, E-PAINTERS CLASH
RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao looks at GlobalPort and sees his team.
“They score off fastbreaks and they are good in forcing turnovers kaya playing them is like playing a mirror image of ourselves,” noted Guiao.
That’s why Guiao and his Elasto Painters would be on their toes when they clash with the Batang Pier Friday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Winner of the 4:15 pm match grabs a share of fourth-running spot while the loser is relegated to seventh.
Adding more importance to the match is the fact Rain or Shine is looking to follow up on its breakthrough 96-91 win over NLEX last Tuesday while GlobalPort is seeking to rebound from a 70-83 loss to defending champion Purefoods Star last Friday.
Guiao said he has devised a gameplan, which should be similar to how he and his team would go about playing themselves.
“We’d look to get the ball in our import’s hands deep in the lane to create some matchup problems and hope he is able to assert himself,” said Guiao. “If they double or sag on him, then we kick out to our shooters and hope they hit their shots from the outside.”
On the defensive end, added Guiao, their focus will be on how to stymie Batang Pier reinforcement CJ Leslie, who was coming off sick bay but still had 25 points and eight rebounds against Purefoods to jack his two-game averages to 29 points and 11 boards.
“Pinaghandaan namin talaga ang import nila,” said Guiao of the 6-9 Leslie, who also blocks an average of 3.5 blocks an outing.
“I think he’s one of the most prolific imports, scoring-wise, and when you combine that with the other scoring threats in that team, like (Terrence) Romeo and (Stanley) Pringle, mahihirapan talaga kami.”
It’s now up to his team to execute and do things right against a GlobalPort squad that has made vast strides from its eighth-place finish in the season-opening Philippine Cup.
“They’ve gotten a new personality with the changes that they’ve made,” said Guiao.
That doesn’t mean Guiao is not upbeat and he draws his optimism from his own import, Rick Jackson, who has been averaging 23.5 points and 15 rebounds in his first two games here.
“Our advantage, I think, is that our import plays a solid inside game, so there’s no mismatch problem inside for us. I don’t think they have anybody who can match up with him,”said Guiao.
As is true for both teams local support should be crucial and that is where the likes of Romeo, Pringle and Denok Miranda and Paul Lee, Jonathan Uyloan and Raymund Almazan come in. (NC)
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