Rain or Shine Elastopainters’ Andrei Caracut during a PBA Philippine Cup game against Terrafirma Dyip. –PBA IMAGES
Rain or Shine cannot afford any more hiccups as it nears the end of its PBA Philippine Cup elimination-round schedule, with its mission of getting the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals facing severe obstacles featuring two of the league’s perennial contenders.
“We’re still trying to get to the top four,” coach Yeng Guiao said after the Elasto Painters’ 94-85 win over the hapless Terrafirma Dyip on Wednesday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City. “Our initial goal was to have six wins to make it to the quarters, but eight wins will give us the twice-to-beat.”
Next up for Rain or Shine, which improved to 6-3 for fifth, is San Miguel Beer on Saturday in Cagayan de Oro City. The Elasto Painters will then conclude the initial phase of the all-Filipino tournament against Barangay Ginebra on June 15 at Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
San Miguel holds a 6-2 record for third in the table while Ginebra also has a 6-3 record, and will take on rival TNT, which has a 5-3 mark, on Sunday before the Rain or Shine face off.
But the Elasto Painters may need to mop up some of the mess they scattered against the Dyip, who almost caught them napping and reduced a double-digit deficit to three with less than four minutes to go in the game.
It took some timely shots from Andrei Caracut and Player of the Game Jhonard Clarito, who had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, to see off a Terrafirma team that fell to 1-9 with a ninth straight defeat.
“If you give them a small window, they’re going to gain confidence. It’s really different playing them [because they go into games] without any pressure,” said Guiao. “That’s why I told [my players] to be careful [or else a rally] could happen. And it did. Good thing we were able to hold them back.”
Louie Sangalang had 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks while veteran guard Stanley Pringle posted 18 points on the night he became the 100th player in league history to score 5,000 career points.
But the Dyip couldn’t snap out of their skid.
Now the Dyip wrap up their campaign, and most likely their PBA stint, on Sunday against the Blackwater Bossing as they continue to wait for the completion of the potential sale to the Zamboanga Valientes.
NorthPort was playing Phoenix in a nonbearing capper to the doubleheader at press time, with Calvin Abueva finally seeing action since being traded from Magnolia for young talent William Navarro.
Abueva came off the bench sporting the No. 17 jersey for the Batang Pier after missing Friday’s loss to the TNT Tropang 5G.
A NorthPort source said Abueva joined practice for the first time on the eve of the contest, and had faced a “positive impact” on the squad.
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The Batang Pier were hoping to improve their 1-7 record after seven straight losses against the Fuel Masters, who were also out of contention with a 2-7 slate prior to tipoff.
