E-PAINTERS TO COME OUT HARDER IN GAME 2
Going on a paltry 18-of-33 shooting from the charity stripe and committing 17 turnovers, it was expected that Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao will be fuming over his team’s effort.
Of course, those 15 missed freebies cost Rain or Shine the game. Now the Elasto Painters find themselves down 0-1 in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
The fiery coach was surprisingly calm, however, and said, “We just have to go back to practice tomorrow and try to improve our free throws, try to find a solution to the turnovers we committed.”
“I think we played pretty decent defensively. We were able to limit their three-point shooting, but they did the same to us,” continued Guiao. “However, if we made a few more free throws, the game would have been closer. If we minimized our turnovers, the game would have been a lot closer. But those things happen.”
What irked Guiao more was the bump committed by Talk ‘N Text import Ivan Johnson on him, which he saw was intentional.
“He did it on purpose,” he said. “The video showed that he can easily avoid me and it was on my blindside. I guess it’s up to the league to evaluate and assess what needs to be done with that, but I’m not surprised because that’s been his reputation.”
“It was uncalled for. I wasn’t doing anything to upset him or anything, and the other thing is that he kept looking at me in the eye and taunting me after he did it.”
Still, Guiao is leaving it all up to the PBA.
“We’ll focus on the game and what needs to be done,” he said. “We’ll see what happens with him it’s a long series anyway. But I’m expecting the league to do something about it.”
And Guiao sure is looking forward to Rain or Shine’s next crack at the Tropang Texters.
“It’s a seven game series. We need something to break the ice and for sure, we’ll come out harder on Friday.” (RL)
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