By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao was not only glad that his team finally broke through its semifinals series against TNT but also proud at how his wards managed to pass the tough test of character in Game 3.
Unlike in the first two games of the best-of-seven affairs, the Elasto Painters had the control for most of the contest, even leading by as many as 15 points, before they did just enough to weather a huge second half storm from the Tropang Giga.
“Pahirapan ‘yung laro pero I think we passed the test of character today,” said Guiao after ROS escaped by a hairline, 110-109 thanks to the go-ahead an-1 play from Aaron Fuller with 3.2 seconds left.
“We were able to hang in there with a strong team, great import. Poy (Erram) probably played one of his best games. We were able to survive that. So to us, every game is just a learning process, it’s a learning experience to us,” he added.
Fuller carried ROS on his broad shoulders finishing with 26 points and 16 rebounds but none bigger than his and-1 that capped a wild sequence for the two teams. He tied the game at 109-all with the layup in traffic before coolly sank the marginal free throw.
The hulking Elasto Painters import also had a hand on Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s potential game-winner at the buzzer.
It was not Fuller alone, the misfiring Santi Santillan had also finally regained his touch with 20 points while Jhonard Clarito remained consistent with his contributions with 15.
“Mabuti nailusot namin kasi ayaw naming ulit na ma-sweep kami kamukha noong nangyari doon sa last semis namin with San Miguel. So at least we can say, whatever happens, this is going to be a better conference for us ‘no,” Guiao pointed out.
More than avoiding another sweep though, ROS somehow got some measure of confidence that they can actually take on and beat the defending champion.
“Also, we get ourselves back in the series. It gives us confidence that we can beat TNT. Their import played great, Poy played great but I think we played more as a team today. We spread out responsibility,” said Guiao.
Still down, 2-1 in the series, Guiao said the Elasto Painters are taking it a game at a time.
“We were looking to break the ice somewhat. So we were just trying to focus on winning one game. After the game 2 loss, I was talking to the guys, manalo lang tayo ng isa, ‘yun muna, kasi mahirap naman na pangarapin mo makarating ka ng finals nang hindi ka nananalo ng isa. ‘Yun lang, focus lang tayo,” he shared.
