Commissioner’s Cup: Rain or Shine in Full Force vs NLEX

Rain or Shine will open defense of its PBA Commissioner’s Cup title with a full roster with center Raymond Almazan fully recovered from the knee injury that kept him out of the Philippine Cup.

In fact, coach Caloy Garcia is upbeat of the Elasto Painters’ chances after signing up Shawn Taggart, an import he feels is perfect for the team.

“The chemistry with the import is also going well,” Garcia said over the phone.

“But we like what we see in him (Taggart). He has very high basketball IQ, works very hard and he loves sharing the ball with his [local] teammates.”

Garcia will be defending a PBA title for the first time as a head coach, with the Painters winning this tournament last season under Yeng Guiao.

Guiao, ironically, will be coaching the team at the other end of the floor, NLEX, on Friday as the tournament gets going at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

That game is slated at 7 p.m., after Mahindra and Meralco start action at 4:15 p.m.

Almazan’s return, according to Garcia, gives back Rain or Shine the one thing it lacked in the Philippine Cup won by San Miguel Beer.

“Flaws in our interior defense cropped up with the absence of Raymond,” Garcia said.

Rain or Shine triumphed over Alaska in seven games last season despite having the lowest-scoring import ever to win a title in Pierre Henderson-Niles.

Rain or Shine beat Barangay Ginebra and the 7-foot Greg Slaughter in the quarterfinals before turning back the 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo and the Beermen in the Final Four.