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Denied of a sweep Friday, Rain or Shine takes a second shot at delivering the killer blow on a San Miguel Beer squad that fights for dear life with old import AZ Reid in tow in Game Four of their Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinal showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.
Reeling from a 98-104 beating by an all-Filipino SMC side in Game Three, the Elasto Painters, nonetheless, remain confident they can get past the Beermen and make a return stint in the second conference finale.
“We just postponed our trip to the finals. My feeling is we’ll get there only in a longer while, but we still feel positive of our chances,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“It’s too ambitious for us to sweep San Miguel. It became a possibility but we knew it’s hard to do. The good thing is we still have a sort of twice-to-beat advantage in this series,” Guiao also said.
The E-Painters promise to go all out in Game Four set at 4 p.m., knowing the Beermen would be very tough to beat in a do-or-die setto.
“It becomes more difficult the more you postpone it, pahirap nang pahirap yan hanggang sa hindi mo na mai-co-close yan,” said Guiao.
The Beermen are gambling on Reid in a bid to salvage the series and get a shot at a “treble.”
Reid, the Beermen’s import in their title run in the 2015 Governors Cup, was to fly in yesterday to take over the spot of Tyler Wilkerson.
The former High Point U stalwart is about five inches shorter but has proven himself to be a winner and perfect fit with the SMB core led by JuneMar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross.
Reid and the Beermen have proved to be a great mix as they’ve shown in their 2015 Governors Cup conquest where they crushed the Elasto Painters, 3-1, in the semifinals.
The question is whether Reid is in shape or has got spring in his legs for Game Four.
Minus Wilkerson, the Beermen banked on sheer guts and determination to foil the E-Painters’ sweep bid Friday.
“I guess that’s natural consequence of playing with nothing to lose. I guess they just took advantage of playing loosely and they just made shots – and we did not, especially against the zone,” said Guiao.
“But we will be more ready the next time we play them,” he continued. “Sometimes may tendency talaga na mag-relax ka kung alam mo na kulang yung kalaban mo.”
The Elasto Painters jolted the Beermen, 98-94, in Game One; then repeated in Game Two, 98-96, before being stopped in Game Three.