By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine is making sure to keep its young core intact after re-signing players that played key roles to its promising run in the 2023-’24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Santi Santillan and Anton Asistio were both signed to extensions, the Elasto Painters announced on Wednesday, Jan 24 with the former being rewarded with a three-year extension while the latter was signed to a fresh two-year deal.
The two made solid contributions to Rain or Shine’s splendid run in the conference where it entered the playoffs despite a 0-5 start.The Elasto Painters strung together six straight wins to reach the quarterfinals where they lost to the twice-to-beat San Miguel Beermen.
Santillan averaged 11.91 points and 4.45 rebounds in the elimination round while Asistio proved to be a reliable backup despite only averaging 2.67 points per contest.
Keeping the young players should bode well to Rain or Shine’s development especially with head coach Yeng Guiao finally seeing a glimpse of his team’s full potential.
The fiery mentor even shared that his team could be up for contention in the upcoming Philippine Cup given the Elasto Painters performance with their young core that also featured the likes of Andrei Caracut, Gian Mamuyac and Keith Datu.
“It was a good run for us. Maybe if Tree [Treadwell] had gotten in earlier, maybe we would not be in a (twice-to-win) situation. Merong mga positive na mga indications ang team namin,” said Guiao
“We should be contending in the all-Filipino. I see a lot of potential in our young locals,” he added.
