Guiao: RoS has the tools to beat Tigers

RAIN or Shine’s fiery head coach Yeng Guiao strongly believes that his Elasto Painters has the necessary tools to beat the Powerade Tigers when they kick off their best-of-seven semifinal showdown on Jan. 4 at the Smart Cuneta Astrodome.

Guiao and his Elasto Painters have good reasons to be optimistic, on top of these was their swashbuckling ride spiked by their two-game sweep of the Barangay Ginebra Kings in their quarterfinal match-up. The Elasto Painters are indeed upbeat and confident but will not throw caution in the air.

“You have to respect what Powerade has achieved. They’re peaking at the right time and we have to address their strength at the point guard and the wing positions,” said Guiao, not foolish to take the Tigers lightly.

And the Elasto Painters best not take the Tigers lightly as the latter is coming off a monumental upset win over the top-seeded BMEG Derby Ace Llamados, a team that was armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals yet fell to the determined Powerade squad starring their high scoring wingman, Gary David.

“We have tall and quick players to match up with David,” said Guiao, referring to 6-foot-4 Gabe Norwood, 6-foot-1 guards Ryan Arana and Jireh Ibañez. The RoS wing defenders did a good job on David, holding him down to 14 points as the Elasto Painters tamed the Tigers, 96-93, in their elimination-round meeting last Oct. 9.

“It’s gratifying to see the team transform and acquire the toughness to perform at this level. The guys have settled down to embracing our system the same way the old Red Bull team embraced our system and team philosophy. Everyone is equal and there are no superstars,” said Guiao of his balanced squad which features rookie sensation Paul Lee, sniper Jeff Chan, the do-it-all Gabe Norwood and bruisers Beau Belga and JR Quinahan. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio