Whoever said that there is no life after Yeng Guiao and Paul Lee for Rain or Shine must be eating their words.
And whoever said that Mahindra can make do after dealing away its core in the off-season is certainly looking a fool at this point.
The Elasto Painters, with a new coach and a franchise player that went elsewhere, blew the Floodbusters to Kingdom Come on Wednesday night, with a 105-83 victory giving them a piece of the PBA Philippine Cup’s elimination round lead at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Rain or Shine led by as large as 49 points early in the fourth period as Mahindra looked like one lost lot against the very organized Elasto Painters.
The final score became what it is only after Rain or Shine eased up in the fourth, something that new coach Caloy Garcia will have to address if they want to even come close to replicating the team’s success under Guiao in the previous six years.
“(It was a) poor fourth quarter for us. We could have played better,” Garcia said.
“I told my players that we shouldn’t be looking at the score (and the big lead that we had in the fourth period) because we need to be consistent the entire game,” Garcia said.
“We just had too many turnovers in the fourth quarter and allowed them (Floodbusters) to attack the basket with no defense at all.”
Jericho Cruz fired 15 points and Maverick Ahanmisi scattered 14 and the game was so lopsided that Garcia had the luxury of clearing his bench as early as the third period, with all but one player – Ronnie Matias – failing to score.
James Yap also made his much-anticipated debut for the Painters, finishing with 10 points, with his two triples putting in very distinguished company in league history.
Yap, who Rain or Shine acquired in giving up Lee in the off-season, hit his second triple in the fourth period and overtook the great Al Solis in fifth all-time in three-point shots made with a total of 1,001.
Only Jimmy Alapag, Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Solis, and the legendary Sonny Jaworski made at least 1,000 three-pointers in their career.
Rain or Shine, which won two titles and had a streak of nine straight Final Four appearances in the six seasons that Guiao was at the helm, posted its first victory against traditional power TNT KaTropa last week.
Mahindra, on the other hand, came off a very impressive stint in the Governors’ Cup, where import James White powered the then-Enforcers to the quarterfinals.
But instead of strengthening their team, management gave away its core in very questionable deals that reportedly were aimed to save on money.
Aldrech Ramos, KG Canaleta and Bradwyn Guinto found their ways to different teams and Mahindra settled on rookies and tapped the semi-retired Gary David starting with the game against the Painters.
David, who played for San Miguel Beer last season and was a two-time scoring champion, played just over 11 minutes, made just a free throw and was 0-for-9 from the field overall.
Alex Mallari and Philip Paniamogan scored 10 points each for the Floodbusters, with Paniamogan the only bright spot for Mahindra with all of his points coming inside the 20-0 run that made it a little respectable in the end.
Mahindra also lost to GlobalPort and Terrence Romeo in its debut by the same margin last week.
Phoenix Petroleum opened up strong and held on to repulse defending champion San Miguel Beer, 92-86, in the nightcap.
JC Intal fired 22 points and rookie Matthew Wright helped the Phoenix cause with 14 as the Fuel Masters chalked up the first reversal of the young tournament.
June Mar Fajardo had 19 points for the Beermen, who dropped to 1-1 like their conquerors.
“I didn’t expect to be here, Phoenix’ Ariel Vanguardia said, after taking his seat for the customary winning coach’s interview inside the press room. “All I asked from my players was to play better than we did against Blackwater.”
San Miguel coach Leo Austria continued to ride his veterans all night, benching talented rookies Arnold Van Opstal and Rashawn McCarthy for the second straight game.
And whoever said that Mahindra can make do after dealing away its core in the off-season is certainly looking a fool at this point.
The Elasto Painters, with a new coach and a franchise player that went elsewhere, blew the Floodbusters to Kingdom Come on Wednesday night, with a 105-83 victory giving them a piece of the PBA Philippine Cup’s elimination round lead at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Rain or Shine led by as large as 49 points early in the fourth period as Mahindra looked like one lost lot against the very organized Elasto Painters.
The final score became what it is only after Rain or Shine eased up in the fourth, something that new coach Caloy Garcia will have to address if they want to even come close to replicating the team’s success under Guiao in the previous six years.
“(It was a) poor fourth quarter for us. We could have played better,” Garcia said.
“I told my players that we shouldn’t be looking at the score (and the big lead that we had in the fourth period) because we need to be consistent the entire game,” Garcia said.
“We just had too many turnovers in the fourth quarter and allowed them (Floodbusters) to attack the basket with no defense at all.”
Jericho Cruz fired 15 points and Maverick Ahanmisi scattered 14 and the game was so lopsided that Garcia had the luxury of clearing his bench as early as the third period, with all but one player – Ronnie Matias – failing to score.
James Yap also made his much-anticipated debut for the Painters, finishing with 10 points, with his two triples putting in very distinguished company in league history.
Yap, who Rain or Shine acquired in giving up Lee in the off-season, hit his second triple in the fourth period and overtook the great Al Solis in fifth all-time in three-point shots made with a total of 1,001.
Only Jimmy Alapag, Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Solis, and the legendary Sonny Jaworski made at least 1,000 three-pointers in their career.
Rain or Shine, which won two titles and had a streak of nine straight Final Four appearances in the six seasons that Guiao was at the helm, posted its first victory against traditional power TNT KaTropa last week.
Mahindra, on the other hand, came off a very impressive stint in the Governors’ Cup, where import James White powered the then-Enforcers to the quarterfinals.
But instead of strengthening their team, management gave away its core in very questionable deals that reportedly were aimed to save on money.
Aldrech Ramos, KG Canaleta and Bradwyn Guinto found their ways to different teams and Mahindra settled on rookies and tapped the semi-retired Gary David starting with the game against the Painters.
David, who played for San Miguel Beer last season and was a two-time scoring champion, played just over 11 minutes, made just a free throw and was 0-for-9 from the field overall.
Alex Mallari and Philip Paniamogan scored 10 points each for the Floodbusters, with Paniamogan the only bright spot for Mahindra with all of his points coming inside the 20-0 run that made it a little respectable in the end.
Mahindra also lost to GlobalPort and Terrence Romeo in its debut by the same margin last week.
Phoenix Petroleum opened up strong and held on to repulse defending champion San Miguel Beer, 92-86, in the nightcap.
JC Intal fired 22 points and rookie Matthew Wright helped the Phoenix cause with 14 as the Fuel Masters chalked up the first reversal of the young tournament.
June Mar Fajardo had 19 points for the Beermen, who dropped to 1-1 like their conquerors.
“I didn’t expect to be here, Phoenix’ Ariel Vanguardia said, after taking his seat for the customary winning coach’s interview inside the press room. “All I asked from my players was to play better than we did against Blackwater.”
San Miguel coach Leo Austria continued to ride his veterans all night, benching talented rookies Arnold Van Opstal and Rashawn McCarthy for the second straight game.
