Rain or Shine's Gabe Norwood. Photo by Nuki Sabio, PBA
MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine tries to keep the lead against a charging Barako Bull Friday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Elasto Painters (6-1) will shoot for a fifth straight win at 7:30 p.m. against the Energy (5-2), who crushed the Powerade Tigers, 117-78, last Sunday.
“If you let your guard down, the lead that we’re now enjoying could easily go to waste,” said ROS coach Yeng Guiao, whose boys share the lead with Talk ‘N Text.
“We’ll strive to be always sharp and aggressive and see how far it will take us.”
B-Meg Derby Ace and Meralco, teams coming off from at least a week of rest, hope to sustain their winning form in the first game at 5:15 p.m.
The Bolts (5-3) are shooting for a second consecutive victory following their 93-87 shocker of the Barangay Ginebra Kings.
B-Meg is in the middle of the pack at 3-4 with Powerade and Ginebra.
Jeff Chan pumped in a career-high 28 points, 17 of them in the third period, when the E-Painters asserted their mastery over the Shopinas.com Clickers exactly a week ago.
Guiao was ejected in that game just a few minutes to go before the half after nudging Shopinas.com’s Ogie Menor, whose pistol-shooting gesture in front of the Rain Or Shine bench irked the temperamental coach.
Guiao again visited the PBA office Thursday and was slapped a fine of P34,600—P4,600 for his fifth technical of the conference and P30,000 for the flagrant misconduct on Menor.
For the second straight game, Menor was penalized P1,000 for taunting.
Barako Bull is admittedly a tough customer for the E-Painters with veterans Willie Miller, Sunday Salvacion and Danny Seigle blending well with rookie Dylan Ababou.
“We’re in this tournament to contend as long as my players are healthy. Hopefully, they (veterans) could withstand the rigorous training and games so we could make the playoffs,” said Barako coach Junel Baculi.