Rain or Shine’s Almazan benched for disciplinary reasons

FILE: Raymond Almazan. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia decided not to field in Raymond Almazan on Wednesday as a disciplinary action for missing two consecutive practices.

Garcia said Almazan skipped the Elasto Painters’ practice sessions on Sunday and Monday after they bumped heads following the team’s loss to GlobalPort on Friday.

According to Garcia, he called out Almazan for his poor outing against the Batang Pier which did not sit well for the veteran center.

“Actually, after the loss against Global, medyo nagka-anuhan lang kami (we got into a bit of a fight), but I think everything is good right now,” Garcia said after the Painters’ 120-99 drubbing of Phoenix.

“Well, of course, frustration. We know that he can perform better than the way he did against Global,” he added. “Actually, I told Raymond before the start of this season that one of my goals was to basically make him a double-double player. That’s my target at the beginning.”

Almazan, though, was nowhere near his usual self against GlobalPort, finishing with only two points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field, four rebounds and three turnovers in close to 23 minutes of play.

“But the way he played against Global, I felt that it wasn’t Raymond. So I got mad at him, nagkatampuhan (we had a bit of a misunderstanding) but that’s it. But I think it’s part of our job.“

Chris Tiu, one of the leaders of the team, is confident that the issue would be ironed out right away.

“I’m positive that would be resolved and we just have to hold fort. I think we’ll be okay,” said Tiu.

“Today, the other guys stepped up. Dexter Maiquez, Mark Borboran, Jewel Ponferrada played well also even Ronnie Matias. Hopefully, the guys can step up and when Raymond’s back we’ll be even stronger.”

Almazan left the Araneta Coliseum early after the game and could not be reached for comment.