Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Rain or Shine may have failed to complete a sweep, but doesn’t mean it couldn’t finish off San Miguel.
In Yeng Guiao’s mind, the Elastopainters will still make it to the Finals.
“We just postponed our trip to the Finals,” he said on the heels of the Elasto Painters’ 104-98 defeat to an all-Filipino Beermen crew on Thursday. “My feeling is we’ll get there only in a longer while. We still feel positive of our chances. Parang may twice-to-beat advantage pa rin kami.”
Rain or Shine still holds a 2-1 series advantage going into Sunday’s Game 4 at the Big Dome.
“I still feel we have the advantage coming in on Sunday. Defensively, we just have to step up to challenge their three-point shooting. We’ve done well with that except tonight. We realize our mistakes where we had come short,” Guiao said.
San Miguel went 12-of-31 from threes without high-scoring import Tyler Wilkerson. But the trio of Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos, and Alex Cabagnot all ended their shooting slumps to rescue the Beermen from an
embarrassing sweep.
Guiao admitted that the possibility of a 3-0 series win crossed his mind, but eventually thought it was “too ambitious for us to sweep San Miguel.”
“Medyo naging possibility siya nung una, pero alam naman natin na mahirap gawin talaga yun. But now, we will be more ready the next time we play them. Sometimes, may tendency talaga na mag-relax ka kung alam mo na kulang yung kalaban mo,” he said.
Guiao, however, believes that his team has to get the job done soon before the momentum shifts to San Miguel’s favor.
“It becomes more difficult the more you postpone it, so pahirap ng pahirap yan hanggang sa hindi mo na maiko-close yan pag hindi mo matapos agad,” he said.