By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine may have leveled its number of wins to those of league-leading San Miguel, Barangay Ginebra and NLEX but head coach Yeng Guiao insisted that his team is still far from being in the elite list.
The Elasto Painters have been on a tear so far in the conference, winning five straight to turn a miserable start of four straight defeats into an amazing winning streak.
ROS, the last independent franchise to win the title in the PBA, boasts a young roster loaded with talent and potential in the likes of Andrei Caracut, Santi Santillan, Gian Mamuyac and Adrian Nocum.
It also still has young big men in Keith Datu and Luis Villegas but were still sidelined by respective injuries leaving Beau Belga, who is having a splendid run so far, to hold the fort inside the paint.
Still, Guiao believes his team is lacking the experience to become truly comparable to the league’s powerhouses.
“Di pa, malayo pa kami dun bata yung team namin kailangan masubukan mo ito ng kayuran ng laro. ‘Yung end game, yung talagang patalinuhan, diskarte, so lulutuin mo pa,” said Guiao.
The results, however, are encouraging for Guiao especially how his wards are managing to grind out close games and win in blowouts by preserving their lead – abilities that, for Guiao, are marks of a good team.
“Maganda yung mga resulta namin ngayon kasi may mga laro kami na dikdikan na nairaraos namin so sa akin good sign iyon. Good sign din yung may lead ka tapos napipreserve mo,” the veteran mentor.
“Magandang senyales pero malayo pa sa mga San Miguel, Ginebra, TNT, Magnolia. Sobrang beterano na ng mga iyon may utak na sa kuko iyon,” he added.
The fiery tactician also stressed that he is very much satisfied with how his team is able to recover from rough starts to their campaign.
“Nakalimang sunod kami na panalo.Narerecall ko yung last conference namin parang halos ganito rin yung pattern,” said Guiao recalling his team’s performance last conference when it won six straight after a 0-5 start to catch the last bus to the playoffs.
“Lamang ng kaunti ngayon. We are hoping the we continue winning kasi sa itsura ng standings magkakatalunan talaga rito sa quotient,” he emphasized.
