New Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia. PBA IMAGES
Coach Yeng Guiao may have left, but Rain or Shine is still in good hands under coach Caloy Garcia.
The longtime deputy is set to take the reins for the Elasto Painters for the 2017 season, and if there’s something the fans can trust, it’s that he has the fiery mentor’s stamp of approval.
“I think that’s one thing coach Yeng told the management, that I’m ripe enough to to give me the opportunity to coach again,” he said, as he returns to the head coaching job he handled from 2008 to 2010.
Partners for five years, Guiao took Garcia under his wing, imparting to him his balanced approach in coaching.
He even let his lead assistant to run team practices and man the games whenever the decorated mentor would get stuck in traffic coming from Pampanga or had to skip the games due to important business trips.
Garcia has learned so much that he even adapted Guiao’s system to Racal in the PBA D-League.
“I’m thankful for him because I learned him,” he said. “The only difference between the D-League and the pros is you have experienced players already. We practically have the same offense in the D-League and the PBA, but then, the players here are more able because we’re running it for five years. It’s an easy offense and anyone can score.”
Garcia acknowledges he has huge shoes to fill as Rain or Shine embarks on the post-Guiao era, but he believes the transition will be seamless.
“I just have to run the same system, we just made small adjustments on offense. It will also be the same rotation that you see with coach Yeng. I also like using all the players. No holding back, I’m going to use them as much as we can,” he said.
And Garcia thinks that the players will be ready to take the challenge head on.
“They have to step up. It’s their time to shine and to be given that situation where they can score more without Paul (Lee) and JR (Quiñahan),” he said.
James Yap and Jay Washington will be joining the new-look Rain or Shine squad, which still boasts of the core of Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Beau Belga, and Chris Tiu.
Young guns Jericho Cruz and Maverick Ahanmisi will still be there, together with rookie Mike Tolomia.
“I know it’s going to be a huge shoe to fill in, but I think I can get the players to the right mindset,” said Garcia. “Like I said, coach Yeng taught us a lot and it’s just letting the players play. That’s one of the reasons why we’re winning.”