Rain or Shine holds first training in Taiwan ahead of Jones Cup games

Rain or Shine trains in Taiwan ahead of the Jones Cup competition. –RAIN OR SHINE PHOTO VIA PBA

Rain or Shine buckled down to work in Taipei on the eve of its 42nd William Jones Cup opener against Chinese-Taipei A.

Photos provided by the PBA on social media showed the Elasto Painters train at Taipei Heping Gymnasium in the Taiwanese capital where the eight-day international cagefest will take place.

Assistant coach Caloy Garcia appears to be the one presiding over the session while imports Ange Kouame and Nick Evans, both tasked to reinforce the PBA squad, trained alongside the Rain or Shine locals.

The Elasto Painters begin their campaign on Saturday against the hosts as they’ll try to pull off a repeat of what the foreign-flavored Mighty Sports Philippines did in 2019, the last time the tournament was held.

Chinese-Taipei B is Rain or Shine’s next opponent on Sunday, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran, Korean Basketball League and East Asia Super League champion Anyang KGC before taking a break on Aug.18.

Their last two matches are against Japan’s U-22 squad and US NCAA Division I side University of California, Irvine.

Gian Mamuyac, Gabe Norwood, Anton Asistio, Shaun Ildefonso, Mac Belo, Andrei Caracut, Jewel Ponferrada, Mark Borboran, Jhonard Clarito, Santi Santillan, Rey Nambatac, Beau Belga and Nick Demusis also comprise Rain or Shine’s lineup.

The Elasto Painters are the first PBA team to represent the country in the annual tourney.