TASK AT HAND
RAIN or Shine outworked San Mig Coffee in the opening game of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal matchup.
No less than Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao said his charges need to outdo themselves even more Friday at the MOA Arena if they want to continue building on whatever they have so far accomplished.
“It’s just one game,” said Guiao, referring to his team’s 91-83 win over the Mixers last Wednesday. “We need to be consistent.”
Guiao took heart in the fact his biggest concerns coming into the game were allayed when his E-Painters won the battle off the boards, 48-46, and had more feeds, 20-16. They also had eight steals but it is the rebounds and assists that pleased him more.
“Those are the things that coaches will always be talking about, the assists and rebounding numbers,” he stated.
“I was confident that we can stay with them with the matchups coming to this game,” he added. You have two good defensive teams playing each other, so it was a matter of execution. We executed well, and I’m happy with the way we moved the ball.”
San Mig coach Tim Cone said his team is ready to bounce back.
“Rain or Shine got everything they wanted to get. We just couldn’t get them out of their comfort zone and we ended up playing a very subpar game,” said Cone Thursday.
“But our guys will respond and put a better effort together for Game 2,” he added. “The key right now is just getting even in the series.”
Guiao said a bit of league history acted as additional motivation for his crew.
“I believe that the team that wins the first game of a best-of-seven has close to a 70-percent chance of winning the series,” said Guiao. “We want to be in that position. You want to get any kind of edge you can have.”
There is another bit of history that Guiao did not say out loud but must be gnawing at him. His team ultimately lost to Powerade in the same tourney’s semis last season, snapping a string of 14 straight series winners who took Game One of best-of-seven duel.
Guiao is more optimistic this time around, however, knowing his charges are a lot tougher since taking the Governors’ Cup title, coincidentally over their current opponent, in seven games.
As more concrete proof, Jeff Chan helped along Rain or Shine’s cause by snapping out of his shooting woes and scoring 18 points, triple of what he averaged in the three-game quarterfinals duel with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. He capped that output with a drive that made it an 81-72 game last Wednesday.
Paul Lee spiked his 15 points with two triples and nine of his points in the fourth quarter that kept the E-Painters’ head above water and Beau Belga drained a floater and Gabe Norwood two charities that bailed them out of an 85-81 count.
Jervy Cruz shot just 3-for-13 from the floor but had 15 rebounds. His tap off a Chan miss and the latter’s own offensive rebound led to a pair of Belga free throws that practically iced the game, 91-81, just 36.9 ticks to go.
Yancy de Ocampo scored 17 points and Marc Pingris laced his defensive chores on Lee with 14 points and seven rebounds. But San Mig’s chances of stealing the game started dimming when James Yap went out of the game with still 4:16 left.
After losing the ball in traffic, the two-time MVP felt pain on his right knee.
“Na-over-extend,” said Yap, who is also suffering from bone spurs on his right ankle.
Yap maintained he will play Friday, but the work is clearly cut out for him and the rest of San Mig. (NC)
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