By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao had nothing but praises for import Aaron Fuller who displayed heart and resilience in the team’s highly-physical 111-106 win over Magnolia in Game 3 of the best-of-five quarterfinal series in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday, Sept. 29.
Guiao lauded his import, who despite being questionable to play prior to the contest, did everything in his power to help the Elasto Painters regain their footing in the series following their worst-franchise loss in Game 2.
“Aaron just provided us a lot of inspiration and encouragement,” Guiao said of Fuller who only managed to play on painkillers and antibiotics to address his eye injury after he was poked by Ian Sangalang in Game 2.
“We know what he went through. Alam naman natin kung ano yung nangyari. He was doubtful all the way up to this afternoon. I was just told by our trainer that he was feeling a little better that he wanted to play, so warrior talaga itong si Aaron,” he added.
Fuller finished with a double-double of 29 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. He actually dropped nine of his total in the overtime and had a crucial offensive rebound in the waning seconds. Although there was still some visible redness on his left, he didn’t look bothered as he nailed two pressure-packed free throws down the stretch.
“Tahimik lang sya but he plays with a big heart. He’s able to control his emotions and carry our team on his shoulders so di naman kami makarating dito at mananalo ng larong ito kung di sya naglaro talaga,” Guiao admitted.
Seeing their import play through his condition also provided inspiration and pushed the rest of the team to also grind it out in the end game, according to Guiao.
“Warrior nga ito, walang imik, laro lang ng laro. We are really lucky we have Aaron. I guess yung lakas ng loob na pinakita nya malaking bagay sa laro namin ngayon kaya hanggang huli talagang binibigay namin lahat para di masayang ‘yung effort ni Aaron kahit na may problema sya sa mata,” added the fiery mentor.
