Rain or Shine taps Gavina as head coach, Garcia as active consultant

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine on Monday announced Chris Gavina as its new head coach.

Gavina will take over the coaching reins from Caloy Garcia, who has been given the role of active consultant and head of basketball operations.

We are excited to announce the appointment of Chris Gavina as Rain or Shine’s Head Coach. He brings with him several years of experience as a coach in both the PBA and MPBL. #BayanNgRos #RainorShineElastopainters https://t.co/qwwiIh0dvm

— Rain or Shine Elastopainters (@bayanngrosoffcl) March 1, 2021

“Where can you find an organization that kept its same coaches despite making changes? This is to address the new landscape of basketball. Coach Caloy will take care of the macro and see and find ways on how to improve the team while coach Chis will take care of the micro, which means he’ll be calling the shots in the game and preparations of the team,” said team owner Raymond Yu on the PBA website.

“We considered his (Garcia) long-term involvement with Gilas and we don’t want it to be a distraction, so we have to make things workable for all of us.”

Last January, Garcia was called up again by Gilas Pilipinas to be part of its coaching staff ahead of the third and final window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.

“We support the management’s decision. For me, this is something new and a new challenge, but at least I’m still connected with basketball and with a much bigger role overseeing the day-to-day operations of the team,” Garcia said.

Gavina, meanwhile, will be making his return as PBA head coach after calling the shots for Kia during the 2017-18 season.

The 42-year-old spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Elasto Painters.

“One good thing about this organization is we’re like a family, so when I was appointed head coach of the team where I’m already a part of was easy to accept. We’re a playoff contender, but we look forward to winning championships in the future.”

Rain or Shine was booted out by eventual champion Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals of last season’s Philippine Cup bubble.