By REYNALD MAGALLON
Yeng Guiao’s return to Rain or Shine gave fans some glimmer of hope of finally seeing an independent team back at the pinnacle of the PBA after it has been ruled by teams from either the giant conglomerate San Miguel Corporation or MVP Grouproup in the past six years
Interestingly, Guiao’s Elasto Painters team was the last independent squad to hoist a PBA trophy when it won the Commissioner’s Cup title in 2016.
Guiao officially returned to ROS fold after signing a fresh three-year deal and already facilitated the team practice on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
“Welcome home CYG! Babalik na ang angas ng ROS something that was lacking when he left the team. Young Turks will learn a lot from him & their best will definitely come out. Looking forward to more exciting games ahead,” one fan tweeted.
“Not much a fan of Guiao’s politics and his antics, but he sure did restore some faith in independently-ran basketball in PH back in 2010’s. RoS was really great and had a system that could rival San Miguel and Alaska back then. This is good for the PBA,” one twitter user added.
Aside from Guiao, one familiar face returning for the Elasto Painters was two-time league MVP James Yap.
“Kahit si James ganado na bumalik,” said businessman/sportsman Terry Que, who co-owns the team with Raymond Yu. “If James continues to practice with the team we are sure makabalik sya.”
Yap took an eight-month hiatus from basketball to focus on his political career when ran for office as city councilor in San Juan City at last May polls.
Although has yet to strike a deal with the ROS management, Yap is hoping for a basketball comeback as he, likewise, aim for a fitting swan song to an already colorful career under Guiao who he played for back in his days with the national team in the Powerade Pilipinas team in 2009 FIBA Asia Championships in Tianjin, China and in the Gilas Pilipinas in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“Baka ito na yung chance, si coach Yeng naman alam natin na isa sa pinakamagaling na coach sa PBA so sana hopefully sana bago magtapos yung career ko sa PBA makakuha tayo ng isa,” said Yap.
