The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are bracing for a tough matchup with ‘championship-caliber’ Converge FiberXers in the quarterfinals.
Rain or Shine set the best-of-five quarterfinal date with Converge after a dominant 133-103 victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters Friday evening.
After the game, Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao said that the FiberXers is a tough draw in the playoffs.
‘Ito, Converge sa kalaban namin, ang lineup nito pang championship. Ang kulang lang sa kanila siguro yung experience lang at konting gelling pa. Pero napaka-balanse ng lineup nila. May height sila, may speed sila, may shooting sila,’ he said.
‘Tingin ko lately ang ganda ng kinikilos nila. Mukhang nasa-solve nila yung problema nila dati na medyo basag pa yung teamwork nila. Pero ngayon makikita mo buong-buo na yung team na yun,’ he added.
Converge is heading to the quarterfinal round with a five-game winning streak.
‘Mas marami silang experience ngayon e, at naka-gel na yung team nila. Marami na silang natutunan, kasi nung medyo bago-bago pa sila naninibago pa. Pero ngayon, tingin ko, nakakapa na nila yung laro sa PBA,’ Guiao said.
‘Materyales naman, wala kang hahanapin. Ando na lahat yung materialis nila. Kaya mas mabigat sila ngayon.’
Rain or Shine previously faced Converge in the quarterfinals back in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup. There, the Elasto Painters came from being down 0-1 in the best-of-three playoff round.
But now, heading to the quarterfinals with a win, Guiao stressed that they aimed for building habits going to the playoffs.
‘Before yung laro, ang bilhin ko lang sa mga players sa team namin. Mas maganda kung mananalo tayo, pasok tayo ng quarterfinals ng playoffs on a winning note. So that would be a good starting point for us,’ he said.
‘Tapos building habits lang. Gusto namin yung mentality namin pang playoff mentality na. Yung effort namin, playoff effort na. So pinu-push ko talaga yung mga bata na isipin nila parang playoff na ito. Parang mental and physical preparation na rin namin para sa playoff.’
Rain or Shine will be taking on Converge in Game 1 on Tuesday, 5:15 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.