Jeff Chan of RoS (light) vs James Yap of San Mig (dark).. Nuki Sabio/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine ended 2013 with a bang.
The Elastopainters overwhelmed a hapless San Mig Coffee and cruised to 101-77 triumph Sunday in the 2013 PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Rain or Shine tagged the hapless Mixers repeatedly with long bombs, making 13, until the fight was snuffed out of last season’s PBA Governors’ Cup champions.
“This is the best gift for us. A new year’s gift,” said head coach Yeng Guiao whose squad rests idle in third place with a 7-3 record.
Rookie Raymond Almazan grabbed the spotlight this time, scoring 17 but all of the fielded Elastopainters chipped in, except for Jeric Teng, who suffered an injury early.
The Elastopainters took control from the get go and wasted no time as the lead ballooned to more than 20 by half time and by as many as 29 points late in the game.
“We caught San Mig on a night that they were mentally down. Talent is still there but I don’t think they were there mentally from the beginning,” Guiao also said.
There was no semblance of rhythm in the Mixers’ performance, as they just absorbed the Elastopainters’ blows without coming up with any solid fight backs.
The closest San Mig Coffee got in the second half, amid the beat down, was within 18 points, but the lead was readily stretched anew by Rain or Shine after that.
Simmering in seeming frustration, coach Tim Cone let his assistant Jeffrey Cariaso take over during the huddle late in the game.
James Yap and Joe De Vance led the Mixers with 16 and 14 points, respectively, but they got badly beat from behind the arc as they only had three 3s.
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