B-Meg tries to forge a Game 7
Rain or Shine blew its first shot at the title but the Elasto Painters remain confident in their second attempt to clinch the PBA Governors Cup championship tonight against the B-Meg Llamados at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Still holding a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, the Painters can secure their first ever crown at 6:45 p.m. over the Llamados, who stayed alive by nailing Game 5, 91-81, Wednesday as two-time MVP James Yap scattered 30 points in his best performance in the championship showdown.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who boldly declared after Game 2 that his boys would win the title with or without his injured crack guard Paul Lee, remained confident of his chances.
“Na-delay lang nang konti, pero sa amin pa din ito (We were delayed a little bit but this title is still a cinch for us,”) Guiao said after Friday’s match where Rain or Shine l lost the battle off the boards by 18 and shot just 36 percent from the field against one of the true powerhouses in the league.
“We’re hoping that our percentages get better after shooting just 36 percent. We’ve encountered some problems with our shot selection,” added Guiao, title-less since leading Red Bull to this championship in 2006.
The Llamados should again be listed as the favorites in Game 6. If they win, the rubber match will be held Sunday.
Judging from Wednesday’s game, when the Elasto Painters were never really in a flow but still managed to hang in there all night, B-Meg will again be in for a really hard fight.
B-Meg has been perfect in five survival games this season, counting its Game 7 win over Talk ‘N Text when Denzel Bowles led the Llamados to the Commissioner’s Cup title.
Only one team, the 1991 Ginebra San Miguel squad of Robert Jaworski, has ever come back from a 1-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven title series after beating Shell with that Rudy Distrito fallaway in the waning seconds.
Tim Cone of B-Meg knows that he now has a shot, what with a fully loaded lineup that the Painters can’t match.
But the Grand Slam-winning coach refuses to look that far, not wanting to throw his wards into a false sense of security.
“We came out and played with tremendous energy. All we talked about was getting back to who we are, playing to who we are and playing just one game,” Cone said.
