It has been a tough conference for Rain or Shine so far.
Dropping their first four games before finally ending the slump in their fifth try, the Elasto Painters are buried in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup standings.
But hope is not yet lost for the Yeng Guiao-mentored squad.
Rain or Shine is taking advantage of the long break of hostilities to reflect on its past mistakes and regroup to turn its fortune around.
“We have a long break. We look at it as a time to reset,” Guiao said after his team got the monkey off its back following a convincing 100-85 win over Phoenix last 17 March in Ynares Center in Antipolo.
With their outside shooting and running game clicking, the Elasto Painters rolled to a morale-boosting victory to get into the win column albeit still at 11th spot just above winless Converge.
It was a timely win heading into the All-Star and Holy Week break.
“(This is) a time to bring this team together and look at what has transpired in the last five games and see where we can improve. We have time to do that since we have a long break,” Guiao said.
The fiery mentor wants to put a premium on addressing their lapses and building on the momentum of their first win.
But it will be easier said than done as the Elasto Painters are still missing the services of forward Keith Datu.
Things are not looking good for the rookie as Guiao admitted that it will take at least six more weeks for him to recover from a right knee injury.
“He’ll be out for six more weeks according to the doctors. So, maybe he’ll return in the next All-Filipino Conference,” Guiao said.
“We can’t tell so we’re preparing for the worst, hoping for the best. Hopefully, he can still make it. But we’re preparing for the possibility of him not making it in time.”
“We’ll do our best to get him back in game shape or recover from his injury.”
As a remedy to its thin frontline, Rain or Shine recently signed Papot Paredes to a one-conference contract.
The 6-foot-6 journeyman would be a big help for veteran banger Beau Belga underneath.
His presence would also allow Santi Santillan to slide to the wing spot instead of playing two positions at small forward and power forward spots.
“I really want Santi to play at the wing because we have an advantage with him on that spot. Whenever he slides to a No. 4 spot, it makes us smaller. But we have no choice after losing Keith. We are forced to give Santi playing time at the No. 4 position,” Guiao said.
“The good thing with Santi is that he knows both positions well. He knows his way if I play him at the third spot or at No. 4 on the post. But then again, before we had a big advantage with him playing three when Keith was still around.”
With the long break and added material on hand, Rain or Shine hopes to make a good run to get back in contention for a playoff spot.
And it starts on 3 April when they face luckless FiberXers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
