By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine goes on a trip down the memory lane as it sports its retro Welcoat Dragons jersey in its game against Converge on Wednesday, April 3 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Raymond Yu and Terry Que-owned franchise gave a sneak peak of the retro jersey through its social media accounts with current players Andrei Caracut, Keith Datu and Luis Villegas expressing excitement in donning the ‘Welcoat Dragons’ dark blue uniforms.
“Unleash the dragon! Brace yourselves for a blast from the past, as the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters debut their retro Welcoat Dragons jerseys against the Converge FiberXers!,” Rain or shine said in a post.
Of course, the Welcoat banner comes with a lot of history for the Asian Coating franchise, being one of the most successful amateur teams in the now defunct Philippine Basketball League.
It has six PBL championships tucked under its belt while carrying then Welcoat Paint Masters banner since its establishment in 1996 and before making the leap to the PBA when it bought the Shell franchise in 2006.
It then used the Dragons moniker for two years in the PBA before making the name change to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in 2008.