Guiao wary of Fajardo, Beermen

Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer face off in an all-important showdown to fan their quarterfinals twice-to-beat bid in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Cagayan de Oro City Convention Center.

Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao hopes the momentum they built from back-to-back victories will carry over when they meet behemoth June Mar Fajardo and his stacked Beermen crew in the scheduled 7:30 p.m. battle.

“San Miguel is a different kind of team. San Miguel is playing on a different level, especially with June Mar. Every All-Filipino, you really have to go through them before you could call yourself a (title) contender,” Guiao said, bracing for a challenging penultimate match before wrapping up the elimination round next week against Barangay Ginebra.

Rain or Shine has won its last two games after beating Phoenix, 109-99, and outlasting upset-conscious Terrafirma, 94-85, for a 6-3 win-loss record tied with the Kings, with the Top 4 and its quarters incentive just within reach.

The chase for the playoff bonus remains tight with seven quarters-bound teams, except for defending champion Meralco (6-5), in contention.

“At first, we were just trying to get to six wins. We got the sixth win so now we’re trying to get to eight wins. Eight wins get you a twice-to-beat, no doubt about that. Seven wins will probably get you a tie and in a tie you can’t really control what your situation will be,” Guiao added.

“So, we’ll try to get in (the Top Four) with eight wins. To make it eight wins we have to beat San Miguel first.”

But the Beermen won’t let the Elasto Painters get through them easily.

With a 6-2 slate, San Miguel has a bit of a buffer in the incentive chase.

The Beermen are also on a three-game roll and coming off a two-week break since crushing Blackwater, 115-78, last 25 May.

“We can beat any team in the PBA but at the same time any team can also beat us,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said.

“Our goal is to get into the top four.”