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After Rain or Shine missed another chance to advance to the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals, James Yap rued his team’s poor execution in the 82-72 defeat to Meralco on Friday.
“We’re shooting forced shots,” he said. “We have to move the ball because that’s our system – not just shoot it on the first pass.”
The Elasto Painters’ lackluster demeanor showed in the game, as they fell behind by as much as 16, 77-61, in the fourth after shooting a measly 31-percent from the field.
It was a sorry defeat for Rain or Shine and Yap, who had his best scoring output in a Elasto Painters’ jersey with 17 points on a 7-of-14 clip, alongside four rebounds and three assists.
The two-time PBA Most Valuable Player admitted that the Elasto Painters may still be feeling the effects of their heartbreaking 107-101 defeat to San Miguel last Friday, affecting the team’s collective psyche.
“Actually, it’s on us. But we can’t do anything about it. We should have bounced back here but we weren’t able to rebound,” he said.
However, Yap is still looking at the bigger picture with Rain or Shine left with several chances to formally enter the playoffs–first against GlobalPort on January 29 then against Alaska three days after.
“What’s crucial here is we’re still not sure of the quarterfinals. If we lose two straight, we may be facing a playoff or even be eliminated. So our last two games are really crucial for us.”
“For us, we just have to take it one game at a time.”