Head coach Caloy Garcia felt Rain or Shine’s winless start would end against Alaska on Wednesday night with new import Terrence Watson in tow.
For three quarters, the Elasto Painters were on track to post their first win, but everything changed after the Aces went on a blistering run in the final frame.
“I thought that we will able to pull off a win today but Alaska went on a 16-0 run in the fourth and that was the story of the game,” Garcia told reporters after the Painters dropped to 0-3 following a 106-89 loss.
“I trust the players I use but the problem is they’re not repaying that trust well,” he added.
Garcia said his players turned away from the game plan that allowed the Aces to break the game wide open.
“We were rushing on offense. The ball movement wasn’t there anymore at the start of the fourth,” he said.
“It’s just more of we didn’t run our offensive patterns and defensively, we just stopped playing when we were down by eight.”
It also didn’t help that Watson suffered from food poisoning just before the game while the Aces’ import Mike Harris played true to form, finishing with 39 points and 25 rebounds.
“He ate something bad earlier and he felt it after the first quarter. He kept throwing up. After the first quarter, every time we sub him out he threw up, when we entered the dugout and during the third quarter he also kept throwing up so we couldn’t gamble on him anymore.”
Still, Garcia said Watson’s health shouldn’t be an excuse for losing.
“We’re not putting the blame on the import. I told them, teams still win even without imports and that’s why you trust your locals,” he said.
“But the thing is they have to be ready to play with or without the import. We won’t use that as an excuse. You still have players who can play so it’s just up to us stepping up.”
Watson still came away with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds before he was subbed out at the 6:35 mark of the fourth quarter and did not return.
The Painters also missed the services of center Raymond Almazan, whom Garcia said had an “emergency.”
“I think Raymond was on his way here but there was an emergency and he had to go home. Actually, until now I haven’t talked to him so we don’t really know what happened.”
Rain or Shine guns for its first win against Blackwater on Sunday in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“Every team right now is strong. We just to win one to get over the hump and hope it continues.”