Rain or Shine eyes 3-0 start vs Ginebra
PBA IMAGES
Rain or Shine played a remarkable game in its season debut against TNT KaTropa then played even better in its next game versus Mahindra.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone keenly followed those games and was impressed of the Elasto Painters.
Cone said they have to get over their championship hangover and get their act together to have a chance at beating the E-Painters.
Rain or Shine, the Commissioner’s Cup champ, and Barangay Ginebra, the Governors Cup titlist, clash in a duel of champs in the PBA Philippine Cup at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Sunday.
Game time is at 6:45 p.m. with the E-Painters gunning for a third straight while the Kings seek to bounce back from a losing season start versus the TNT KaTropa Texters.
“We did not play a complete 48 minutes in our first game. We weren’t able to sustain our focus, especially down the stretch, and obviously we can’t do that against ROS,” said Cone.
“We know how good they are and we respect how well they are currently playing. We’ll try to get off to a better start and finish stronger,” Cone added.
The Kings blew hot and cold in their 103-108 loss to the Texters.
Joe Devance and Chris Ellis led the way as the Kings waged a chase from 12 points down late in the second quarter then built a 14-point spread, 78-64, in the third period. But they let the Texters have their own surge in the payoff period.
The E-Painters were impressive in their first game, especially versus the Floodbuster where they led by as many as 49 before simply going through the motion on the way to a 105-83 rout.
The Floodbuster hardly got into the game despite a big 20-to-nothing run in the fourth quarter.
Jericho Cruz, Maverick Ahanmisi, Chris Tiu, Jireh Ibanes, Jewel Poferada, Jeff Chan, Beau Belga, Mike Tolomia and debuting ROS player James Yap combined for 18 three-pointers to highlight their thorough beating of the Floodbuster.
Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia, however, rued their fourth-quarter effort.
“It’s a poor fourth quarter for us. We could’ve played better. We allowed them to attack the basket with no defense at all. If the game was close, we could have lost the game,” said Garcia.
“I called the guys’ attention in our post-game talk so that we avoid getting complacent in such situation the next time,” Garcia added.
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