A LOT of questions are running around Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao's mind right now, but those are not enough to dent his confidence.
In fact, Guiao remains optimistic his Elasto Painters would be able to get the job done when they tangle with the equally-pumped-up Phoenix Fuel Masters Wednesday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The match is a crucial one for Phoenix since a third straight win would give it a 4-5 record overall and a clearer shot at advancing to the eight-team quarterfinals.
For its part, Rain or Shine would like nothing more than to foil Phoenix, improve its own slate to 3-6 and thus switch places with the latter at eighth.
"Kailangang manalo bukas," said Guiao on the eve of the match. "Mukhang makakalaban namin sa (eighth) slot ang Phoenix, eh. So kailangan talunin iyon."
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That would certainly depend on how quickly new import Jordan Tolbert adapts to Guiao's system and his local teammates.
The replacement for Greg Smith II, who suffered a pulled hamstring early in the course of a 99-110 loss to NLEX last Saturday, was set to arrive Tuesday morning and would be up for a bit of cramming. "We're hoping we can have one practice with him, then maybe another walkthrough tomorrow before the game," related Guiao.
"Pero siyempre, pagka ganoon ang sit'wasyon mahirap mag-expect," added Guiao. "You have a day of practice with your import and then you're playing a must-win game. Kumbaga, backs-against-the-wall kami. Kung mayroong three or four days of practice sana iyan mas maganda."
Guiao's optimism largely hinges on his locals who he expects to step up and not leave all the work up to Tolbert, listed at 6'7 but expected to meet the height ceiling of 6'6.
"I'm confident about my locals. We played good with the locals. Naipanalo namin isang laro (against Terrafirma) na walang import. 'Yung last game namin against NLEX we actually played better without the import kasi tinambakan kami ng 27 first half pa lang, naibaba namin ng 11 sa second half without our import," explained Guiao.
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"So I'm still positive na kung mailusot naming ang game bukas malaki pa rin ang chances of us getting to the next round," added Guiao.
"Kailangan lang mailusot bukas. Bukas ang critical kasi we have very little run to run our plays with our import and gel him with our locals." (NC)
