Painters put Evans under microscope

Rain or Shine is set to put Nick Evans under the microscope when he suits up in the William Jones Cup in Taipei starting 12 August.

Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao told Daily Tribune that they want to see the potential of the 6-foot-10 Evans to determine if he has what it takes to reinforce them in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner's Cup in October.

Evans is set to arrive on Sunday and is expected to join the Painters' training in preparation for the prestigious invitational tourney. He will join naturalized player Ange Kouame in manning the shaded lanes for Rain or Shine.

"We're bringing him for two reasons," Guiao said in a telephone interview.

"First, we need a big guy who can help out Ange Kouame, and the other one is we want to evaluate his performance if he's a good fit and can pass the height measurement."

Guiao said although Evans is listed at 6-foot-10, he is confident that he will easily pass the prescribed height limit of 6-foot-9 for the season-ending conference.

"He was already measured and he passed the 6-foot-9 height limit," Guiao said. "We're confident he'll make the height limit, but the other thing to see now is how fit he'll be to our system."

Rain or Shine assistant coach Caloy Garcia said they are interested to see how Evans will stand his ground against the national teams of Qatar and United Arab Emirates as well as the U22 squad of Japan, Iran Team B, University of California-Irvine and Korean powerhouse Anyang KGC led by former PBA import Du'vaughn Maxwell.

"We've become a bigger team," Garcia said.

"Ange is close to seven feet and runs so well. He's quick for his size, but we felt we need somebody who can complement him and we're hoping Evans can do that."