Last Wednesday, Rain Or Shine crushed Barangay Ginebra, 106-91, to sweep their best-of-three quarterfinal series and advance to the semifinals against Powerade. In Game 1 last Friday, the Painters came back from 17 points down to upset the Kings, 112-105, in overtime.
Rain Or Shine and Powerade begin their best-of-seven series at the Cuneta Astrodome on Jan. 4. The winner will meet the Talk ‘N’ Text-Petron survivor in the finals starting Jan. 20 in Digos City, Davao del Sur.
Guiao, 52, has won five PBA titles so far, two with Swift and three with Red Bull. His last championship came in the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference with Red Bull. He joined Rain Or Shine last season after stints with Sunkist, Mobiline and Red Bull. The Terry Que-Raymund Yu franchise has never qualified for the finals since entering the league as Welcoat in 2006-07. This is the club’s third semifinals appearance.
“It feels like Red Bull days again,” said Guiao, a former national coach. “We had a young team then with Red Bull and we’re perhaps the youngest team now. It’s gratifying to see the team transform and acquire the toughness to perform at this level. The guys have settled down to embracing our system the same way the old Red Bull team embraced our system and team philosophy. Everyone is equal and there are no superstars.”
As for Powerade, Guiao said the Tigers’ upset over B-Meg in the quarterfinals despite a twice-to-beat disadvantage was “a rare feat.” He added, “You have to respect what Powerade has achieved. They’re peaking at the right time and we have to address the strength at the point guard and the wing positions. The way Gary David is playing, we have to find a way to ice those hot hands. It’s also interesting to see how the Paul Lee and Jvee Casio match-up turns out. All in all, I feel really good the way we’re playing. I think we have what it takes to take on Powerade in a seven-game series.”
The Painters’ versatile point forward Gabe Norwood said he can’t wait for the semifinals to start. “Excitement is an understatement,” the 26-year-old former George Mason University varsity cager said. “Hopefully, we’ll settle down and defend. A seven-game series is long. Focus, rebounding and defense will decide it for us. Marcio (Lassiter) is a great defender and all-around player. It will be a great match-up (if I play him). Hope to get a chance to guard Gary. In order to be the best defender, I have to defend the best scorer. Marcio, Gary and Jvee are great offensive players in three different ways.”
Rookie guard Paul Lee said the key to beating Powerade is to limit David’s production. David leads the league in scoring with a 21.5 clip. In Powerade’s two wins over B-Meg in the quarterfinals, “El Granada” averaged 34.5 points. “We’ll use our defensive stopper, Jireh Ibanes, against Gary,” the 22-year-old Lee said. “As for Jvee, my message for him is good luck to both of us as we enter our first-ever PBA semifinals. This is an exciting match-up as no one predicted that both teams could make it to the semis.”
Casio and Lee were picked 1-2 in the PBA draft last August. There continues to be a debate as to whether Lee deserved to be No. 1 instead. That issue could be settled in the series.
“I’m happy because we entered the semis,” said Lee. “It’s a good Christmas break for all of us. Against Powerade, I think the critical factor is defending Gary. If we limit Gary’s score, we’ll win the series. Our advantage over Powerade is we play more physical but their advantage is they have a legit scorer in Gary.”
Lee is an advocate of Guiao’s system that allows for players to find their place in the sun. “In Game 2 of the Ginebra series, I thought their defenders concentrated too much on shutting me down,” he said. “They didn’t realize there are others who can hurt them. We’re worked hard to improve our defense. Against Ginebra, we stopped their pick-and-roll by dropping down or rotating to challenge the open shooter. I think we’re strong offensively and defensively. We’ll try to make it a short series but we’re not promising anything except we’ll play over 100 percent to beat Powerade.”
Former FEU sharpshooter Jeff Chan, 28, said it’s a good feeling to reach the semifinals because the hard work at practice and in games has paid off. “It’s just the semis so we’ll continue to work hard in attaining our objective of winning the team’s first championship. This is my second semifinals but the team’s third. “
In terms of match-ups, Chan said the Painters will focus on containing Powerade’s guards and wings. “They’ve got Gary who is the league’s leading scorer and their rookies are playing very well. We need to stop or limit them. My message for Gary is you’re a good player and we’ll do our very best to stop you and your team.”
source by Joaquin Henson The Philippine Star
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