CHARACTER TEST
RAIN or Shine’s resilience passed yet another test with flying colors.
It’s now San Mig Coffee’s turn to find out if it has what it takes to dig deep within itself and survive another trial by fire
Thursday in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Elasto Painters lead the best-of-seven duel, 2-1, by virtue of a 98-72 demolition of the Mixers on Christmas Day.
What makes that victory more remarkable is the fact it came on the heels of an 82-106 loss just the Friday before and the shorter time his team has to make the necessary adjustments is gnawing at San Mig coach Tim Cone.
“We’re 1-1 in blowouts, but, more importantly, they are leading 2-1 in the series,” noted Cone.
“They had three days to get ready from their blowout, we only have one to bounce back,” he added. “No doubt, our character will be tested.”
It surely will be.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao termed Game Four as “the biggest game” for the combatants in the series and he wants his charges to once again go all-out and secure the win that would move them on the threshold of a second straight finals appearance.
“The next game will be crucial for us and for them,” said Guiao during the post-Game Three interview. “If we go up, 3-1, we’ll be able to have one foot in the door. And right now the burden of adjustment shifts to San Mig Coffee.”
It appears more physical than mental, as Guiao himself assessed. “As the series goes longer we should be able to take advantage of our longer rotation,” he stated.
“We’re fresher than they are. They have to extend the minutes of some of their guys.”
Cone has used just eight players for majority of the first two games. When Game Four appeared to be clearly beyond reach, Cone wound up fielding his entire bench Tuesday in the hopes of resting his major players.
PJ Simon led San Mig’s charge but the likes of James Yap and Joe Devance were clearly out of sync. Three days after scoring a personal conference-high of 34 points Yap finished with just six points on 1-for-11 shooting, while Devance managed only nine after 17 in Game Three.
The E-Painters had a more balanced load on each end of the court while Paul Lee, Jervy Cruz, Jeff Chan, Larry Rodriguez and Chris Tiu led the offense with at least 11 points each.
Even if Yap and Devance pick up their scoring Guiao remains confident. “We have more stoppers than their scorers,” he stated, before adding his penchant for utilizing more players should fuel the up-tempo game they want.
“We’re able to run and able to pressure on a longer rotation,” he said. (NC)
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