Rain or Shine’s mastery of San Mig in elims ‘irrelevant’ in Finals, says Guiao
MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao refuses to think his Elasto Painters have San Mig Coffee’s number as they begin their best-of-seven finals series even when the Mixers’ mentor Tim Cone thinks so.
The Elasto Painters swept their match-up with Mixers in the elimination round, which was capped by a 101-77 drubbing on December 29, 2013, and entered the post-season at second place.
“We have a lot of respect for Rain or Shine. They’ve had our number for the last few times that we played,” Cone said Thursday in the pre-finals press conference for the 2014 PBA Philippine Cup.
But the fiery Guiao is smart enough not to fall for the false sense of security those two games bring, knowing full well how the talented Mixers have finally started playing to their true potential.
“Even if coach Tim said we had their number, it’s not relevant anymore,” Guiao, who was also present at the presser, offered.
“It’s a whole new story. They’ve gotten better and deeper. Sangalang and Melton are making a contribution. Mark is playing better. James has gotten his shooting back. It’s a whole new team.”
“The biggest mistake we can make is thinking we still have their number, because we don’t.”
Guiao’s concerns are not unfounded as San Mig Coffee managed to complete a tremendous turnaround from a seemingly-insurmountable 1-5 start to a finalist.
The Mixers also successfully toppled the no.1 seed Ginebra in the process.
“I feel that what they have gone through made them stronger. To play Ginebra in game 7 and win close games, that toughens you up for the final, it gets you tougher mentally, that’s what we have to put with.”
And San Mig Coffee, admittedly, got to where it is now because of that humiliating blowout loss to the Elasto Painters, which served as a wake-up call.
“That was the turning point. We reached the end of the battle and we have to climb our way out. We started to pick up after that,” Cone said.
The Mixers and the Painters start their finals match up, which promises to be an epic battle of wits between two of the league’s master tactitians and a clash of give-it-all players, on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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