With the way things are going for Rain or Shine, head coach Caloy Garcia needs all the help he can get.
The no.1 team in the eliminations has hit a snag in the playoffs, losing two of its last three games and trailing 1-0 in the best-of-five semifinals against Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Rain or Shine is two games away from elimination, still plenty of time to right the ship, but Garcia is concerned over the production of one of his players.
And that is big man Raymond Almazan.
“I felt that he wasn’t focused enough in this game today,” said Garcia after their 102-89 loss Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “I don’t know if he’s under the weather I just feel he wasn’t in the game today.”
Almazan was stellar in the previous two games putting up 16.5 points and 8.5 boards in more than 24 minutes.
That performance saw a massive dip against the Gin Kings, who played without Japeth Aguilar, when Almazan scored zero points and grabbed just three rebounds in 13 minutes of action.
Garcia said its crucial for them to adjust during the game itself if they hope of scoring the equalizer in Game 2.
“For us, the lesson was we had to adjust during the game and go to mismatches, which we didn’t do today,” said Garcia.