BY HIS own assessment, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao sees all the odds stacked in favor of Bay Area when they square off Friday in their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals duel at the PhilSports Arena.
"Kahit anong gawin mong preparasyon doon wala ka namang magagawang preparasyon sa team na iyon, eh," offered Guiao when asked how he plans to brace his eighth-seeded Elasto Painters against the Dragons, who enjoy a win-once advantage after topping the eliminations.
"Advantage sila sa lahat. Advantage sila sa import, advantage sa height. 'Yung samahan nila wala silang ginawa kundi matulog, nasa hotel, so sama-sama sila talaga roon," added Guiao.
"So ang lakas ng camaraderie, ang lakas ng chemistry nila. So wala akong masabing strategy doon, di ko alam kung paano namin tatalunin iyon. Masyadong malakas."
Indeed, Bay Area has shown it is more than ready to contend for the crown, closing out the eliminations with four straight wins - touched off by a 120-87 drubbing of Rain or Shine last Nov. 11 - to earn the No. 1 seeding in the last eight.
Sponsored content:
Rain or Shine on the other hand, had to go through the wringer to the tune of a 110-100 win over NLEX in their sudden-death last Sunday just to grab the last quarterfinals spot.
Expect several changes in the rematch.
Ryan Pearson, who played his first game barely a day after coming in to replace Steve Taylor, is now more settled in with Rain or Shine and the PBA's style of play. "Nakadami na siya ng laro, kilala na niya 'yung team, di na siya jet-lagged," noted Guiao.
Myles Powell, who scored 50 points in just three quarters of that first meeting, has also reportedly suffered a sprain in practice and is to be replaced by another scoring machine in Andrew Nicholson.
That offers little comfort for Rain or Shine since Nicholson, a 6'9 former NBA campaigner, averaged 38.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in his first four games here and is sure to be a bigger, if not as much of, a headache for the E-Painters as Powell, who has normed 37.5 ppg in eight games.
Sponsored content:
No matter the daunting task Guiao is not about to throw in the towel so easily as he and his team aim to at least prolong their first playoff stint after two conferences.
"We'll try to stay in there as long as we can," said Guiao.(NC)
