On Sunday night, he once again witnessed how the Elasto Painters pulled away for another victory against the team he now plays for – Meralco.
Its character developing into solid form quickly, Rain or Shine recorded a franchise-first 2-0 (win-loss) start in a tournament with imports, beating the Bolts 101-92 after exhibiting tremendous poise in the fourth quarter and seizing a piece of the early lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“I guess the nice thing here is that we are building some character,” said Painters’ coach Yeng Guiao after his only second stint with the ball club. “We were able to finish strong and I think that’s what we need for a young team like us.”
While Rain or Shine may not possess so many big names as Meralco, it certainly has better balance. The Painters’ bench, led by Ronjay Buenafe, outscored the Bolts’ reserves, 54-21. Buenafe scored 15 points, John Ferriols had 12, and RJ Jazul contributed eight as Meralco head coach Ryan Gregorio dropped his first two games in four years or since the 2006-07 Fiesta Conference.
Mercado, the player traded by the Painters to the Bolts in the off-season to acquire Buenafe and Beau Belga in a three-team pact, was not in his element against his former ball club. He only submitted eight points, went 0-of-7 from three-point territory, and only trooped to the free-throw line once and failed to convert.
Hassan Adams, the import Guiao described as ‘the best’ being the only reinforcement with NBA experience having played with the New Jersey Nets, Toronto Raptors and for the LA Clippers, led Rain or Shine with 23 points even though he struggled from the floor on 9-of-25 shooting.
But Adams was clearly the guy who mattered more in the fourth quarter, scoring eight. His counterpart, Anthony Danridge, had five dunks in the first half but flamed out in the final quarter (four points).
“I think when started playing defense when he prevented Danridge from getting those dunks,” said Guiao. “He had a dunking exhibition in the first half.”
Alaska was the ball club that kept pace with Rain or Shine at the top of the standings, surviving another ferocious comeback by Ginebra in a 95-94 victory.
LA Tenorio hit a three-point shot with 3.4 seconds left to play, and then completed his heroics with a steal off Nate Brumfield in the ensuing play as the Aces survived the loss of a 26-point lead (45-19) in the second quarter.
“People from the outside always don’t understand how you lose leads like that,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “Ginebra always have the crowd behind them pushing and pushing and pushing them to fight. I was the least shocked guy when they came back.”
“LA has nerves of steel,” Cone added. “He has the personality to take those big shots. Maybe I’m learning now, let LA have the ball.”
It was exactly the play Cone designed after the Kings fought back from a 92-87 deficit with exactly two minutes to go. Willie Miller put Ginebra on top at 94-92 with a lay-up after Alaska import LD Williams lost the leather.
Williams led Alaska with 25 points, Joe Devance had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds and Tenorio submitted 18 points, six assists and four rebounds as the Aces gained some sort of payback against the team that eliminated them in the quarterfinal round of the Philippine Cup.
Brumfield collected 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who drew a big game from Miller (22 points, nine rebounds). Ginebra thus dropped to a 1-1 record after winning its opening game against Meralco.
The Rain or Shine-Meralco game had 20 lead changes, and the contest still hung in the balance with eight minutes to go after the Bolts came to within 82-85 on a split by Chris Ross.
But Adams had a split and Ryan Arana, hero in Rain or Shine’s 95-94 win over Derby Ace five days ago, hit back-to-back baskets before Adams connected on a difficult fade-away jumper to make it a 92-84 ball game with 5:12 left to play.
Doug Kramer, who broke his mouth-guard and lost a tooth after taking an inadvertent hit from Gabby Espinas in the final period, added 11 points and eight rebounds for Rain or Shine, which has never gone 2-0 in any import-spiced tournament since entering the PBA in 2006.
Mark Cardona, who only had six points in Meralco’s 115-98 loss to Ginebra in the tournament’s first game in Laoag City last Feb. 18, bounced back this time with 22 points, 15 in the first half, while Danridge had a game-high 31 but went 11-of-20 from the free-throw line.
