Rain or Shine Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao shared an insightful perspective to winning in the aftermath of Jhonard Clarito leading the Elasto Painters to a 92-89 escape act against the NLEX Road Warriors in the 2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.
According to him, luck can mean the difference between winning and losing—or, in the case of Rain or Shine, between going home or living to play another day.
He’s probably right. At this stage, a fortuitous bounce here, a missed call there, or a stroke of luck at just the right time can lead to victory or cause a loss. It just so happened that Lady Luck was on Rain or Shine’s side.
Then again, according to Guiao, his Elasto Painters probably gave Lady Luck no choice but to side with them.
“Itong series na ‘to, sabi ko nga kanina at the start of the game, bigay mo lahat ng kaya mo, trabaho ka, but at the end of the game, there’s really luck involved,” Guiao told reporters after Rain or Shine’s win. “Swertihin ka, it’s going to be one or two possessions and diperesensya… may halong swerte, pero ang tingin ko ‘yung swerte darating sa ‘yo pag kinayod mo, ‘pag nagsipag ka, which we did today.”
Indeed, the Elasto Painters worked hard for this victory. And no one typified their effort more than Jhonard Clarito.
Jhonard Clarito Wills Rain or Shine to Victory
To say Jhonard Clarito made his own luck against NLEX might be a bit wrong. Instead, it might be more accurate to say that he grabbed Lady Luck by the neck—one rebound at a time.
‘Yung three points namin sobrang baba, kaya dinaan lang naming sa sipag, box out sa rebound, saka nagtulong-tulong rin ‘yung mga teammate ko. Kaya nga ‘yung sabi ni Coach Yeng, walang matatalo sa depensa, kelangan buwis-buhay talaga,” Clarito said postgame.
It was a buwis-buhay effort for Clarito indeed. In the last 10 minutes of the game, after NLEX had built 77-69 advantage to seemingly wrest control, the burly 6-foot-2 forward took over with hustle, sheer determination, and apparent disregard for human life—his, ostensibly.
In those 10 minutes, Jhonard Clarito put up 14 points and 12 rebounds, 6 of which came on the offensive glass and in heavy traffic, against taller Road Warriors like JB Bahio and Brandon Ramirez. In all, he finished with 20 points and 21 rebounds to become the shortest PBA player since Calvin Abueva in 2014 to record a 20-20 in points and rebounds.
After that 10-minute stretch of buwis-buhay hoops, Game 1 was in the books, and the Elasto Painters had lived another day.
Rain or Shine can most certainly thank Jhonard Clarito.
