Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao downplayed the Elasto Painters' standing against powerhouse top seed San Miguel in their PBA semifinal faceoff, but Beermen chief tactician Jorge Gallent thought otherwise.
Facing San Miguel, a powerhouse team boasting of the "Death 15," in the bigger stage of the semifinals in the PBA is a daunting task for the rest of the field.
Rain or Shine, the Beermen's foe in the best-of-seven semifinal series which began Friday, May 17, knows that.
Prior to the match, Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao tagged his crew as the "underdogs," choosing to remove the pressure off their shoulders by focusing on hard work and the fight they are going to give their opponent, which happens to be the winningest team in the league with 29 titles.
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Rain or Shine's Jhonard Clarito and Gian Mamuyac try to hold down June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel in Game 1 of their PBA semifinal series to no avail. | Photo (c) PBA
"We’re playing as underdogs, we know that. San Miguel pa, the best team in the conference ang kalaban mo. I don’t think there’s any pressure on us. We will just play as hard as we can," said Guiao, after Rain or Shine arranged the penultimate round clash with the No. 1 seed Beermen via a quarters win over TNT.
"Lalaban lang, tingnan lang hanggang saan makarating. Wala kaming pantapat kay June Mar (Fajardo), kay CJ (Perez), kina Terrence (Romeo). Pero pahihirapan namin sila. Ganoon lang ang magagawa namin. Kung manalo, manalo. Kung matalo, kailangang matalo kang nakataas ang noo mo after the game," he added.
Rain or Shine did make it a battle, with the Beermen only posting their biggest leads at 10 in Game 1 as the Elasto Painters repeatedly tried to close in.
In fact, Rain or Shine had the chance to force an overtime after being behind by just three points, 98-101, but Andrei Caracut fumbled on a trey as the Elasto Painters failed to execute their play in the final 11 seconds.
[RELATED STORY: PBA: June Mar Fajardo, San Miguel pip Rain or Shine, take opener of best-of-7 semis series]
As for San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent, he believes that Rain or Shine is a "great team" deserving of its spot in the semifinals given that it is well-balanced and well-coached.
"Rain or Shine deserves to be in the semifinals. They're a great team. They're young, they're great. If they don't deserve to be here, they wouldn't be here," said Gallent after the Beermen emerged as the winner in the series opener.
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Rain or Shine's Gian Mamuyac soars for a layup as the San Miguel quintet looks on in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinal series in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup. | Photo (c) PBA
[WATCH: PBA Player of the Game Highlights: June Mar Fajardo powers San Miguel to Game 1 win over Rain or Shine]
"Rain or Shine, you're saying, is just a team here? No, it's a good team. It's a well-balanced team. And it's well-coached," Gallent added.
The Elasto Painters even forced the Beermen to commit 16 turnovers which translated to 14 points for Rain or Shine, something that did not sit well with Gallent.
“We had 16. That is really a lot for a team,” said Gallent.
[RELATED STORY: PBA: San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent rues turnovers despite Beermen's Game 1 win over Rain or Shine]
Gallent and the rest of the Beermen will have to put that in mind before plunging into action in Game Two where they will try to back up their win against the Elasto Painters who are eager to even the series.
They clash anew on Sunday, May 19, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tip-off is at 6:15 p.m. after the 3 p.m. opening match between the other semis pairing of Ginebra and Meralco.