Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Seeing two golden chances slip its grasp, Rain or Shine is aware of the huge pressure ahead as it tries to finish off Alaska in Game 6 of the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
And as the Elasto Painters trained at NEGA Gym for hopefully the final time this conference on Tuesday, the sense of urgency to make Wednesday’s game as their last was palpable.
“You have to have that (do-or-die) mentality,” said coach Yeng Guiao. “Yung sense of urgency nararamdaman na ng lahat. But the effort should be there. You should not think that you can divide your effort into two more games. Kailangan isang effort na lang siya, isang laro, buhos na lang.”
Game 6 is on Wednesday still at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After racing to a 3-0 start in the best-of-7 championship series, the Elasto Painters fumbled in closing out the series, losing Game 4, 111-99, on Friday and Game 5, 86-78 last Sunday.
Guiao has already laid out the things Rain or Shine has to focus on: limiting its fouls which would also lead to minimal free throws given to Alaska.
“The biggest adjustment we need to make is to play good defense without fouling, without giving up too many free throws,” he said.
And Guiao is hopeful that after those two consecutive hiccups, the Elasto Painters are ready to execute the adjustments that would yield the results they need.
“I feel we made adjustments already, but we will know about that after tomorrow’s game,” he said. “Yung 3-0 advantage namin, that gives you the opportunity to make four adjustments. We already made two adjustments and the results did not favor us. So we have two more adjustments and I hope we don’t need the fourth adjustment. We hope the third adjustment we will make tomorrow will be sufficient.”
But even with the momentum now with the Aces, who are trying to stage their own historic comeback, the fiery coach believes the advantage is still with his team.
“Let’s just put it this way: kung pinaguusapan natin yung pressure, sabi ko nga, I wouldn’t exchange places with them tomorrow. Mas gusto ko pa rin yung situation namin kaysa sa situation nila,” he said.