MANILA, Philippines – For head coach Yeng Guiao, it wasn’t about the X and Os why Rain or Shine lost Game 2 of their best-of-seven semifinals series with San Mig Coffee.
Guiao, who got ejected in the third quarter after a second technical foul for continuous complaining, attributed his team’s blowout loss to its frustration with the officiating.
“I guess we just got frustrated with the calls and we felt that they were allowing too much contact against us while we couldn’t defend them with the same amount of contact they were giving us, said Guiao. “Yun ang pinag-umpisahan ng lahat.”
“We played a good half and we were up by just two. I guess that was really the downfall. San Mig Coffee got their confidence with their offense,” added Guiao, whose team lost, 82-106, Friday.
Rain or Shine, which trailed by as much as 25, was dealt with its worst defeat under Guiao’s watch.
“We’ll watch the film and try to correct our mistakes. I just couldn’t understand the calls. The last call was an offensive foul on jeff I couldn’t understand. Just our story on our luck today,” he added.
The E-Painters led by as much as 11 early before the Mixers battled back to turn things around in the third period led by James Yap, who scored 16 of his game high 34 points in that quarter alone.
“It’s a mental breakdown on our part caused by frustration on the officiating.”
Game 3 is on Christmas day with ROS and San Mig Coffee hoping to get that all-important 2-1 lead.