After falling to a 0-3 hole

In PBA Finals,  Rain or Shine coach Guiao now just wants to “delay their celebration”

Maybe it was just because of the sheer frustration of trying so hard and still failing, or it could even be because of a huge 0-3 deficit staring him in the face.

Last Sunday night, it was as if it wasn’t Yeng Guiao who was talking to the media after a bitter loss by his Rain or Shine squad to Talk ‘N Text in Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup title series.

The man talked minus the usual bravado and sometimes combative tone that, like his brilliant strategies on the bench, has  defined his successful PBA coaching career that has spanned close to two decades now.

“I will just try to delay their celebration,” Guiao said, referring to plucking out a win – if they could – starting with tomorrow’s Game 4 and averting being a sorry footnote in Talk ‘N Text’s inevitable march to league immortality.

The Tropang Texters moved within another victory of becoming the first squad in 30 years to win this tournament three straight seasons, and they have four shots in trying to make it happen starting with tomorrow’s 6:45 p.m. clash at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

HISTORY

No team in the league – or even in the National Basketball Association – has ever erased a 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. And of all 12 that have done so previously, only one squad was able to take their series to a Game 6.

“History?” Guiao asked back when someone asked him if he and his Painters were willing to take a stab at becoming the first team to do so. “Di nga kami maka-isa, history pa.”

Should the Texters win tomorrow, they will complete just the fourth sweep in a title series in the PBA. There have been two other best-of-seven sweeps that took place in the Final Four.

Guiao owns one of those three previous feats, when he piloted Swift and Tony Dwayne “The Hurricane” Harris past the Seven-Up Uncolas and Dell Demps in the 1992 Third Conference Finals.

Norman Black, a man no stranger to winning titles, had said after Friday night’s Game 2 win that he wouldn’t talk anything about a sweep. And on Sunday night, the Grand Slam-winning mentor tried very hard not to utter the word.

“Considering we’re up 3-0, we go for the championship on Wednesday,” Black, on the verge of the 11th title of his career, said. “We really struggled offensively. They did a good job defending us today. If it ends up being a sweep, so be it. We will come on Wednesday trying to win the championship.”/inquirer