As the 50th Season of the PBA begins, a lot of fans have voiced out their opinions that any of the independent teams can win the championship.
Both the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Converge FiberXers are labeled as the “dark horse” of this season.
But while we are still in the early parts of the elimination round, let’s look back at the time when the Elasto Painters were able to find the “Golden Rainbow” in their 19-year stint in the league.
Origins: Enter the Welcoat Dragons
Way back on February 27, 2006, the PBA welcomed the Welcoat Dragons as the 10th team in the first Pay-to-Play league in Asia.
Approved by former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala, the team bought out the franchise of Shell Turbo Chargers and tapped the services of Leo Austria as their main mentor, who is currently the Head Coach of the San Miguel Beermen.
Some of their notable players that they had in their first year were: JR Reyes, Jireh Ibañes and Alex Compton.
Renamed to Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
After 2 seasons in the league in which the Dragon never reached the Playoffs at all, the team eventually got rebranded and hired a new veteran Head Coach.
In the 2008-2009 PBA season, the Bayan ng ROS welcomed Caloy Garcia who served as the assistant coach of Leo back then.
During the Draft Day as well, the Elasto Painters selected their franchise legend, Gabe Norwood as the Number #1 Overall Pick.
With these moves, ROS did make the Playoffs. A quarterfinals finish in the Philippine Cup and a semifinals exit in the Fiesta Conference (import laden tournament).
However, the team yet again struggles to make it to the Finals despite consistent showing of elite performance in the elimination round.
A Fiery Yeng Guiao gets the Head Coaching Duties
During the 2010-11 campaign, as the year date turned to January 2011, the Elasto Painters Management gave Yeng Guiao a Head Coach contract in which Garcia will be transitioning to be part of the Assistant Coaches instead.
Yeng, a former mentor of the Air21 Express is best known for his “love language” displayed not only to the referees but also to his own players.
There’s Always a (Golden) Rainbow after the Rain
In the 2011-12 PBA season, after multiple “Semifinals Exit”, Coach Yeng and his boys finally got their breakthrough during the Governor’s Cup.
They had the services of Jamelle Cornley as their import to go along with their prized local players: Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Ryan Araña, Ty Tang and No. 2 Overall Pick, Paul Lee, the Elasto Painters were bound to make something special.
We also can’t forget the iconic duo of JR Quiñahan and Beau Belga called “Extra Rice Incorporated” as they are best known for their big wide body frame despite being under-sized big men.
They finished the elims 8-1 getting the Top Seed, played through the Single-Elimation Round Semis and advanced through the Finals meeting the B-Meg Llamados.
Displaying their “Triangle Offense” with Tim Cone on the sidelines, the series definitely went to a sudden death Game 7.
It was Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan and Jamelle Cornley who stood out for the Bayan ng ROS battling tooth and nail against the dynamic local trio of B-Meg, James Yap, Marc Pingris and PJ Simon to go along with their import, Marqus Blakely.
Rain or Shine actually had a 3-1 lead in the Finals but B-Meg forced a winner take all Game 7 but in the end, they got the job done and gave the Finals MVP Award to their 3-point specialist, Jeff Chan.
Photo Credit: GMA News
Went Through Some Finals Exit Before Doing It All Again in 2016
The team went through the Finals under Coach Yeng a few more times but never really got the overall prize.
Yet, the team was praised by many as they are the only Independent Team to repeatedly compete at the highest level possible and develop such young players.
In the 2015-16 season, they were able to break the title drought despite not being the “title favorites” by the majority.
With rookie guards Maverick Ahanmisi and Don Trollano in the mix as well as having, arguably one the Top 3 guards in mid 2010’s, Paul “Angas ng Tondo” Lee, Rain or Shine was built different.
Also in the lineup were: Chris Tiu, Jericho Cruz, Gabe Norwood, 2012 MVP Jeff Chan, 2013 3rd Overall Pick Raymond Almazan, Jewel Ponferada, Commissioner’s Cup import Pierre Henderson-Nielles.
Henderson-Nielles was actually the team’s 3rd import of the Commissioner’s Cup after replacing their first 2 original reinforcements. Pierre was also famous for NOT having a 30-point game for the Elasto Painters as he was only used for getting rebounds and defending.
ROS finished #5 in the standings with a record of 7-4. They beat Ginebra twice in the Best-of-Three Quarterfinals, made an upset against the mighty San Miguel Beermen in the Semis, 3-1 and faced the Alaska Aces in the Finals.
After a rugged series, the Elasto Painters clinched their 2nd title in franchise history after 6 Games and named Paul Lee as the Finals MVP.
The “True Underdogs” of the League
In a tournament filled with “Sister Teams” and “Harvest Teams”, ROS displayed excellence and did not run away from the grind, choosing to play the fair game even though they won’t have the largest number of fans in the Philippines.
Yeng Guiao’s reputation of being a “fiery mentor” did help Paul Lee and Jeff Chan reach their full potential. It even gave Gabe 2 rings and the “Extra Rice Inc.” duo of JR and Beau to be the most physical front court in the PBA.
And even though their Henderson-Niles averaged 9 points in the Finals, they still won a title with him.
Perhaps the disciplined and well constructed system of the Elasto Painters should be a blueprint to every independent team out there, and that should be a lesson that everything is “earned and nothing is given”.
