Coach Yeng Guiao didn’t hide his appreciation on how his Rain or Shine squad handled this one.
And on how the man they picked first overall in the last Draft is stepping up to be the franchise player the Elasto Painters are hoping he would be.
“I am happy with the way we are handling the pressure,” Guiao said last night after super rookie Paul Lee proved key in an 81-77 decision of Meralco that put the Painters in the playoffs of the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Lee scored 16 points and had four assists, highlighting his night with two free throws that gave the Painters the lead to stay as Rain or Shine rose to 5-1 overall to tie idle B-Meg on top and be the second team in the semifinals.
“Our guys are maturing and we are able to close out the hard games, the close games,” Guiao added after also getting 21 points and 10 rebounds from import Jamelle Cornley. “Although this is a very young team, in a way, they are playing like veterans.” Sol Mercado gave the B-Boys the lead for the last time at 77-76 after scoring on an off-balanced jumper over three defenders that included Lee, his man for most of the night.
But after that play, Lee immediately returned the favor and drove hard against Mercado, drawing the foul and converting both charities for 78-77 heading into the final 38 seconds.
“Lee is giving us the leadership and control that we need from a point guard in the endgame,” Guiao said in praise of his prized sentinel.
“We can release some of the pressure (after making the playoffs),” Guiao said. “(But if we) want to contend in the semis, every game is going to be very important.” Powerade extended its streak to four on a night when Gary David’s mind-boggling scoring streak came to an end later in the night as the Tigers crept closer a playoff berth with a tightrope 86-83 triumph over Barangay Ginebra.
David, the year’s leading local scorer, scored just 16 points and saw his run of 20-plus games come to a halt at 19, but the Tigers kept on winning after Omar Sneed proved critical in the stretch.
“Gary was defended really well and Omar (Sneed) was there to save the day for us,” Powerade coach Bo Perasol told reporters.
“We really wanted him to get that streak,” Perasol said when asked if the club had an idea of what was at stake for their team leader. “But for him, it wasn’t as important as winning this game.
“I don’t think it (streak) was important for him because you saw that he wasn’t forcing his shots.” David would have become the first player in the modern PBA time to score 20 or more points for 20 consecutive games, and his last basket, a triple that came with still 3:11 left, gave fans some hope.
With the streak snapped, David now will have to settle sharing the record with Danny Seigle, though PBA statisticians still don’t want to rule it as an all-time mark because records of Danny Florencio’s eye-popping 1977 season are not available.
Florencio, the former Santo Tomas star who saw action for several PBA teams, averaged 32.8 points a game that year while playing for Seven-Up. He did that in a 38-game season.
David wouldn’t score again after that triple, and it was Sneed who scored all but two of the Tigers’ final nine points that pulled the win out for Powerade, who rose to 4-2 and is now alone in third spot.
Barangay Ginebra dropped to a level 3-3 card after blowing a 16-point first half lead.
Sneed finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds and remained undefeated on Philippine soil.
Import Cedric Bozeman led the Gin Kings with 23 and Mark Caguioa finished with 12.
