Facing Guiao an emotional encounter for Rain or Shine
Rain or Shine can finally move on.
The Elasto Painters wrapped up an emotional week, where it played against former cornerstone Paul Lee with Star last Sunday and ex-head coach Yeng Guiao and NLEX on Friday, with an encouraging 107-97 over the Road Warriors.
New head coach Caloy Garcia admitted it was anything but an ordinary game for Rain or Shine, from the players to the staff.
“It’s an emotional game for us. He’s been a father to us and the whole team,” he said of Guiao. “Parang nakita mo yung tatay mo, masasaktan ka rin eh.”
It was an awkward situation for Rain or Shine, which had a fruitful six-year partnership with Guiao that ended in two championships.
“Medyo weird,” said Jeff Chan. “Hinihintay ko nga na murahin nya ako o banggain.”
But for Norwood, seeing Guiao on the other side of the court is something his squad needed to see.
“It’s tough, but at the same time it’s what we needed. It was probably a weird situation for everybody, but at the same time, we have to come out and we played our best and tried to win the game.”
But Elasto Painters did their best diffuse the emotions and managed to turn a 12-point deficit in the second half into a 10-point victory.
“We don’t want to be in a hole either and we wish coach Yeng the best, but at the same time, we’re competing. I think he would say the same thing,” said Norwood.
Against Guiao, the burly big man still did what he does best: get under the coach’s skin.
And Belga didn’t shy away from doing his usual antics, something which Guiao responded with hurls from the sideline.
“First time ko nakalaban si coach na yung talagang intense. Kilala naman ako ni coach eh at hindi naman ako basta-basta napipikon. Kilala niya naman yung attitude ko,” he said.
After the game, Guiao and the team still had one last moment as all of them approached the coach for handshakes.
“It’s just our sign of respect lang,” quipped Chan. “Ilang taon din kami nagsama ni coach Yeng. (We’ve spent a lot of years too with coach Yeng.)”
Garcia is also hopeful that this will give Rain or Shine some sense of closure as the year comes to an end.
“Hopefully after this game, our team’s mindset will finally get better,” he said.
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