Throwing a shade on Alaska’s defense a day before, Pierre Henderson-Niles’ couldn’t help but rub it in after Rain or Shine trumped Alaska, 105-97, in Game 1 of their 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
“What defense? There was none,” he said, as the Elasto Painters had a field day on Friday night, shooting 48 percent from the field and 14-of-27 from three.
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At the pre-finals presser on Thursday, Henderson niles also taunted Dozier and Alaska: “We’re going to win. We have defense. I don’t know about his team.”
With the offense clicking collectively for Rain or Shine, Henderson-Niles’ six-point night, which went along with 13 rebounds and three steals, hardly mattered.
However, the burly import isn’t satisfied.
“I have a bad game, but I can’t have a good game every night and I did my job getting the rebounds. That’s my job: to get rebounds and play defense,” he said.
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Still, Rain or Shine surrendered 97 points to the Aces, and the reinforcement wants the rest of the E-Painters to further clamp down on the defensive end come Game 2.
“Our defense wasn’t our normal defense. It’s like we got a little tired,” he observed. “I think we played good defense other than Rob (Dozier) scoring 41. He got hot tonight, and that was it.”
But don’t expect Rain or Shine to let Dozier get hot the same way again on Sunday.
“He had an unbelievable game. He’s not missing tonight. That’s already half of their points. If we could contain Rob next game, we’ll be alright. Hopefully, he’ll not come out doing the same way next game.”