Safe to say, it was not the right "choice" for Magnolia as the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters took a 3-2 series win on the way to the PBA Governors' Cup semifinals.
It turned out, Rain or Shine had extra motivation against Magnolia in their recently-concluded PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals series.
Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao bared feeling challenged after the Hotshots seemingly opted to go up against his youthful in the best-of-five affair, as opposed to taking on sister team and many-time champion San Miguel Beer.
“We felt a little maybe challenged, kasi alam namin na parang ginusto ng Magnolia na kami yung makatapat nila,” said Guiao shortly after the 113-103 win over Magnolia in the deciding Game 5 on Saturday, October 6.
“Yung game nila with Converge, I felt sa kanila yung makapag-pahinga raw yung mga players kaysa sa mag-compete sila sa laro na yun.”
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Guiao, of course, referred to Magnolia’s final elimination round match against Converge where the Hotshots opted to sit out key players.
The FiberXers beat Magnolia, 89-82, to take the no. 3 seed in their group, setting up a crossover showdown against the Beermen.
The firebrand mentor felt it was a “conscious choice” for Magnolia to set up a quarterfinal meeting against the young, inexperienced Elasto Painters.
“To me, it was a conscious choice on their part to play us. And Gabe Norwood kept telling us that we should exact some form of revenge for that na these guys chose us,” Guiao said.
[ALSO READ: Point guard Andrei Caracut is the future of Rain or Shine, says coach Yeng Guiao]
The Magnolia series ended up still being extremely tough, but Rain or Shine went on to secure a semifinals ticket thanks in large part to guys like Aaron Fuller and Andrei Caracut, who came up big down the stretch for the team.
Caracut scored eight of the last 12 points in Game 5 for the Elasto Painters, who are heading into the penultimate stage for the second straight conference.
“Maybe mas maganda na magsisi sila na tayo yung pinili nila. That was put as a challenge to the guys," coach Yeng said.
But it’s only going to be tougher for Rain or Shine now, as defending champions TNT Tropang Giga and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson await them in a best-of-seven duel for the semifinals.
“I’m proud of my teammates, I’m proud of the coaching staff for getting us prepared for this. We want to keep getting better,” said Fuller.
“They got the semifinals last conference. We’re not just satisfied getting here. It’s a great opportunity to be here, but we still have work to do.”