MANILA: In all candidness, Gabe Norwood talked about how good Rain or Shine has become, and of how good he still could be.
“If we keep playing our game, then it would be tough for them (opponents) to keep up with us,” Norwood said last night, moments after helping the Elasto Painters overshadow Talk ‘N Text, 104-96, and seal the franchise’s best-ever Philippine Cup performance this early.
Norwood scored 16 points, highlighting it with a spectacular two-handed follow-up slam with a minute remaining before insuring the Painters’ fourth win in seven games with two free throws all inside the final minute.
“Not yet,” the 6-foot-5 former George Mason star said when asked whether he has played to his full potential yet.
“Hopefully, I can continue to excite people. I’m having fun playing with this team,” the No. 1 draft choice said. “We’re not playing the smartest basketball out there. But we’re playing hard and it keeps us in the game.”
It wasn’t all Norwood, though, as another rookie, the stocky Solomon Mercado, also delivered big time.
Mercado scattered 20 points, all of his five fourth quarter points coming in the seeming blink of an eye as he gave the Painters a 94-85 lead after a completed three-point play off Mac Cardona and a layup in a 17-second span.
And Garcia had a point. Jared Dillinger, the second overall choice in the draft who was chosen way ahead of Mercado was ineffective to say the least, shooting just four points on a 2-of-12 clip from the field while missing all six attempts from the stripe in 36 total minutes.
Cardona tried to make things happen for the Texters, scoring 14 of his 27 points in the fourth period to give Talk ‘N Text a shot at winning and rebounding from an man-sized, 104-102 loss absorbed at the hands of Red Bull on Wednesday.
Still, the center of attention remained to be the Painters as a whole, as they improved on their best-ever tournament start with a slot in the playoffs seemingly well within reach, unless, of course, something catastrophic happens to their two prized rookies.
Rain or Shine, or Welcoat during the last two seasons, never won more than three games in an all-Filipino tournament, never won more than seven games in a year and always finished in the bottom of the standings in each of its first four conferences.
Meanwhile, Purefoods put a halt to a three-game Air21 run later in the night, getting a lift from Kerby Raymundo and from someone who wasn’t supposed to play at all.
James Yap, with two bad ankles and an aching back, sent the game into overtime with a dramatic, 360-degree triple from the deep left corner before shooting six points in extension for a 108-105 victory over the Express.
