MANILA, Philippines — The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters missed out on another opportunity to barge into the finals after exiting the PBA Philippine Cup at the hands of the TNT Tropang 5G. 

This marked the third straight conference that Rain or Shine was eliminated by TNT, which head coach Yeng Guiao believes is a recurring theme due to their inability to close out games. 

“Yun two or three turnovers in a row when dikitan pa yun laro sa last three minutes. Again, it’s closing out games, yun pa rin problema namin. We couldn’t close it out, we couldn’t make the big plays when we needed it the most, ” Guiao commented on their 89-97 loss in Game 6. 

In a series where TNT imposed on their size and experience advantage, Guiao also believes Beau Belga could have made a difference on the series’ outcome.

“Malaking bagay yun pagkawala ni Beau sa feeling ko. We had to play small a lot of the times. […] The experience and the size of Beau would have been helpful to us.”

“Syempre may mga nawala rin sa kanila. Kaya lang mas beterano naman sila, mas malaking bagay sa amin yun leadership and experience ni Beau,” he added.

Despite dwelling on the what-ifs, Guiao still welcomes their Season 49 stint as a positive development.

“We still look at it as a victory overall for us. The consistency of the team, making four semifinals stints and going through all that. I think nag-add pa sa knowledge ng mga batang players namin,” said Guiao.

The Painters will turn their focus to the off-season as they try to recover and make the necessary adjustments to get over the hurdle in the next season.

“We’re still waiting for the health of Beau, Luis. Si Felix magiging available na rin for the next conference and its still going to be All-Filipino. Of course you’re always looking to upgrade your manpower, your talent. Meron din parating na draft,” discussed Guiao on their next moves, while mentioning that they have invites to play exhibition games overseas. — Ravi Tan, intern