Rain or Shine engages Guiao-coached NLEX

Rain or Shine engages Guiao-coached NLEX

Rain or Shine engages Guiao-coached NLEX
PBA

Rain or Shine engages Guiao-coached NLEX

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THE Rain or Shine Elastopainters play their former coach Yeng Guiao and the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA Philippine Cup main game today set for 7 p.m. at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

It will mark the first time that the E-Painters will face their erstwhile head bench tactician after Mr. Guiao left the team to take the helm over at NLEX.

For Rain or Shine, their debut match against Mr. Guiao will be an emotional game and they are expecting it to be a big challenge since the veteran coach is “familiar” with the kind of system it runs.

“The game against NLEX will be a lot harder since we practically run the same system. They (Road Warriors) are coming off losses as well and most surely be fired up for the game. We just have to be ready for them,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia in the run-up to today’s game.

The E-Painters (3-2) are coming off a loss themselves in their last game against another familiar face Paul Lee, who is now playing for the Star Hotshots.

The team bowed to the Hostshots, 99-91, last Sunday with Mr. Lee, who spent five years with ROS before being traded in the offseason to Star for James Yap, delivering the killer blows with crucial baskets and crisp passing down the stretch.

Big man Raymond Almazan led the way for the E-Painters in the losing cause against Star with 19 points and 13 rebounds while rookie Mike Tolomia had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Gabe Norwood had 10 points while Mr. Yap finished with nine.

END THE SLIDE

Over at the other end, apart from facing the pressure of meeting his former team, Mr. Guiao has to deal with the major skid his NLEX team is experiencing.

After opening the first conference of Season 42 of the Philippine Basketball Association with a win, the Road Warriors have lost four straight and are risking missing out on the playoff bus.

Carlo Lastimosa is topscoring for NLEX with 13.4 points while forward Sean Anthony is averaging a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s a big adjustment for me,” Mr. Guiao was quoted as saying early in the tournament of his transfer to NLEX.

“I miss them (E-Painters), of course, but they are competitors now,” he added.

In the opening game at 4:15 p.m., meanwhile, the TNT KaTropa (3-2) joust with the Alaska Aces (3-2) for a share of second spot in the standings.

TNT was victorious in its previous game, beating the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters, 117-98, while Alaska is currently riding a three-game winning streak.

CHRISTMAS DAY OFFERING

On Christmas Day, the PBA returns to the Philippine Arena for a double-header featuring the Mahindra Floodbuster (0-5) versus Blackwater Elite (4-2) in the curtain-raiser at 3 p.m. and Star (3-2) and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (2-3) in their “Manila Clasico” at 5:15 p.m.

Mahindra tries to finally notch its first win of the tournament while Blackwater is out to add on to the four wins it has so far, the most it has chalked up in a conference a little over two years in its PBA existence.

Star, meanwhile, looks to avenge the come-from-behind 92-89 Christmas Day loss it was dealt by Barangay Ginebra last year via a game-winning three-pointer from Kings guard LA Tenorio.

This is apart from extending its streak of wins, now at three, and holding down Barangay Ginebra, which lost in its last game.

The last time the PBA was at the humongous Philippine Arena was two years ago when the league opened its 40th season there.