By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao likes to view their semis series deficit against TNT in a rather different way – rosy of course.
A 1-3 series hole may be a tough climb especially against a high-caliber team like the Tropang Giga but Guiao and the Elasto Painters can see the silver lining of the situation, making them still feeling good about their chances.
“We still feel good about this series. We know it’s gonna be hard climbing back but we’re getting used to finding ways to win,” said Guiao in the aftermath of a close 81-79 loss.
“Tingin namin this game could have gone either way and if we had won this game, the series would have been tied. It’s a positive perspective in the series na, yes, we are down 1-3 but it could have easily been an even series,” he added.
The confidence of Guiao, despite being shoved into the ropes, stemmed from how his team has adapted through the course of the series as after blowout losses in the first two games, ROS won Game 3 and was one possession away from tying the series in Game 4.
“We’re looking at it from a positive perspective. If we can come back on Friday, with some more lessons learned from this game, tingin namin pwede pa namin i-improve ‘yung approach namin in terms of making adjustments,” said Guiao.
“Our hope is just to keep the series going. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is playing like more than 46 minutes a game at high intensity. Sa tingin ko kung ma-extend namin ito ng six or seven games there’s a possibility we might tire him out,” he added.
Rain or Shine is not thinking too far ahead as it aims to take it one game at a time – first, by surviving Game 5. And in order to that, the Elasto Painters need to finally get their outside shooting going in the series.
“Manalo ka ng minsan that means another game, manalo ka pa ulit then that’s another game. Our best option here is to keep the series going and at some point we will be fresher than they are. So wag ka lang matalo agad kailangan lang mag continue yung series,” said the fiery mentor.
“We’re still enjoying the series and we’re learning a lot. Gusto lang namin maextend. We want to win on Friday. Ang tingin namin mayroon pa kami pwedeng iadjust,” he added.
