Friday’s PBA game between the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and TNT Tropang 5G was marked by a fight that saw the former’s import, Jaylen Johnson, and the latter’s Glenn Khobuntin swinging at each other. The fracas resulted in the ejection of both players, although Rain or Shine certainly bore the brunt of that exchange, as it was left without an import in the game’s last six minutes.
At that point, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao admitted that he didn’t believe his team would pull it off, even as it held a 96-91 lead when the fight broke out.
“When it happened, I knew, parang imposibleng manalo. Six minutes pa yata left to go, and then there’s really no matchup you can do against Bol Bol. When he takes a shot, nagdadasal ka lang na magmintis sana kasi hindi mo naman masusupalpal, wala ka naman magagawa,” Guiao acknowledged after the game, which the Elasto Painters ultimately won, 112-109.
So, how did Guiao’s wards overcome such adversity?
“Incredible toughness the team showed,” said Guiao. “And our prayers just worked.”
Rain or Shine Shows Character, Plays with Pace
Guiao later on went into depth on how his Elasto Painters got the job done against the pre-tournament favorites and their towering reinforcement.
“First time I saw him on the court, I was thinking, ‘How do you play against this guy?’ You think there’s nothing you can do,” Guiao said. “We just practiced patience. We just played with a lot of toughness. ‘Yun lang naman magagawa mo, and I guess I have a really good bunch of guys who have high character, who can play with a lot of effort. We sustained our pace for 48 minutes. I think that’s the only way we can beat TNT with Bol Bol is we have to play with pace for 48 minutes… We have to play with pace.”
The Elasto Painters certainly played with pace, running at every opportunity to outscore TNT, 15-7, in transition and making the 7-foot-3 Bol go up and down the floor as much as possible.
Even so, the Tropa trailed by just one point, 110-109, with 30 seconds remaining. That’s when Adrian Nocum showed his character, taking on Bol in isolation and making a tough scoop shot over him to give Rain or Shine breathing room en route to the big win.
Nocum put that show so high to elude Bol’s extraordinarily long limbs, and that it went in was akin to a miracle.
Actually, it might be the prayers working.
