Rain or Shine shows glimpse of history with retro ‘Dragons’ jersey

Rain or Shine Elastopainters sport retro PBA jerseys in their win over Converge in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao couldn’t help but admire the Elasto Painters’ retro jerseys in the PBA Philippine Cup at Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

The squad wore their usual dark blue color scheme, except this time, donning the original Welcoat Dragons logo; the original name of the Elasto Painters when they entered the PBA in 2006.

For Guiao, seeing the classic logo presented by Anta plastered on the team’s jerseys and coaching staff’s uniforms “felt good,” and showed how much the franchise relishes its history.

READ: PBA: Beau Belga’s first triple-double propels Rain or Shine

“Me and Jireh (Ibañes) just talked and the uniforms came, it’s like we wanted to reminisce about the early days of the franchise when it was still Welcoat. Kind of like a ‘retro’ approach. Even in the NBA, some teams do ‘retro’ uniforms,” said Guiao in Filipino after their dominant 110-90 win over Converge.

“It feels good to wear these jerseys and uniforms and there’s a lot of people commenting that they want the dragon design and the history of the franchise, which is why I also settled in this franchise because it protected its good name all throughout.”

18 years ago, the Welcoat Dragons entered the PBA and didn’t have much success.

READ: PBA breakthrough for Rain or Shine

However, after two years, the squad changed their names to what it’s currently called; the Rain or Shine Elasto Painter, in an effort to bring the franchise to a turnaround.

Now being one of the most well-renowned teams in the league, it’s safe to say that the franchise has achieved relevancy since then.

Ibañes, a former Welcoat swingman and current team manager, explained that the decision to use the retro jerseys was all about timing of Welcoat’s relaunch this year.

READ: Guiao says consistency key in Rain or Shine’s title run

“They were relaunching Welcoat paint and it was the perfect time so they allowed the jerseys. It’s really good because this is where we and the whole franchise started so I’m happy that they experienced donning the Welcoat Dragons [jerseys,]” he said in Filipino.

“[It has] exactly the same design except the material wasn’t like what it was before. These are sublimated but it’s the same design and some differences in number placements to adhere to the PBA’s protocol,” he added.

Ibañes said that the PBA has allowed them to use it more than once for this conference.

And why wouldn’t they use it again? It seems like there’s luck coinciding with the uniforms as Rain or Shine saw history made while the Welcoat kits were worn after Beau Belga became the first local player in franchise history to record a triple-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

“The office of the commissioner was gracious enough to allow us to wear these for this conference. We have a few games left where we wear dark [uniforms] and if the bosses give us more go signals then we’ll try to wear it again.”