E-PAINTERS, ELITE EYE EACH OTHER AS STEPPING STONE

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RAIN or Shine and Blackwater are desperately in need of that one good push that should get their campaign really going.

Either the Elasto Painters or the Elite are sure to have that spark for a momentum when they collide Wednesday in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gametime is at 4:15 p.m.

A win by Rain or Shine would snap it out of back-to-back losses and set it on course for a shot at inclusion among the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals following the 11-game eliminations.

Should Blackwater prevail, however, it would switch places with its victim and rekindle its hopes of making it through and avoid the last place finishes it has had in its first two conferences with the league.

The last four qualifiers have to win twice over their counterparts in the next round, but that is one bridge Wednesday’s protagonists would cross when they get there.

The immediate goal is, to put it simply, to qualify.

“I hope it’s not too late,” said E-Painters coach Yeng Guiao after his team blew an early lead and lost to Barako Bull, 103-112, last Sunday.

“We can still save ourselves from being eliminated. I feel that if we’re just able to weather the storm, even if we’re in the lower four of the top eight, we will still have a chance to upset the upper teams.”

For Rain or Shine center Beau Belga, the key is for all the team’s local players to find their usual groove and lend hard-working import Wendell McKines that much-needed support.

“Di lang nagkakatugma-tugma, di lang nagsasabay ‘yung swerte. Di lang nagkakasama-sama,” said Belga. “’Yun ang pinupuna sa amin ni coach, na nawawala ‘yung offense namin. ‘Yun talaga ang pinagbubuhusan namin sa practice. Di lang kami dapat puro depensa.”

Best exemplifying that fact are the E-Painters’ games against GlobalPort and Barangay GInebra San Miguel in Dubai and Barako Bull at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In a breakthrough 119-112 win over the Batang Pier, JR Quiñahan, Gabe Norwood and Belga scored in double digits. In an 81-93 defeat to the Kings and to the Energy, only Paul Lee delivered among Guiao’s locals.

“I wouldn’t say they are tired,” said Guiao, whose team has made deep playoffs runs in at least the last 10 conferences and is coming off a runner-up finish in the Commissioner’s Cup.

“We could have used a longer vacation, pero wala na iyon. I think we have recovered enough na, physically. Mentally, hindi ako sigurado.”

Much bigger are the concerns of Blackwater.

While Guiao can bank on his locals to catch fire at any time, Elite counterpart Leo Isaac has no such luxury.

Marcus Douthit has been the usual pillar of strength with his 21.3 points and 14 rebounds per game, but Brian Heruela is the lone consistent local for Blackwater with the likes of Reil Cervantes, Bambam Gamalinda, Eddie Laure and Robby Celiz usually in on-again, off-again modes.

And with Rain or Shine expected to use its up-tempo game to negate Douthit’s height advantage, expect a long night for Blackwater. (NC)

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