Guiao basks in underdog billing

Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao has been vocal in claiming his team is off the radar of squads expected to go deep into the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup playoffs.

However, the Elasto Painters scored a huge upset by eliminating twice-to-beat NLEX to gatecrash their way into the best-of-seven semifinals against familiar foe TNT.

“I’m really proud of these guys because now TNT is there, San Miguel is there, Ginebra is there and then Rain or Shine is there. Eh sino ba kami?” Guiao said following Rain or Shine’s 103-92 win in the do-or-die quarterfinals Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Leonard Santillan showed the way in the series clincher with 24 points backed by Andrei Caracut’s 16 markers and Jhonard Clarito’s double-double of 13 markers and 16 boards for the Elasto Painters.

Anton Asistio and Mike Malonzo had 11 and 10 markers, respectively, as Rain or Shine outscored the Road Warriors, 25-15, in the fourth to prevail.

The Elasto Painters, after overcoming a huge disadvantage, advanced to their fourth straight Final Four appearance and third in a row semis faceoff against the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G.

Rain or Shine defeated NLEX, 92-89, in its first of two do-or-die quarters games last Wednesday.

Top seed San Miguel Beer and fourth-seeded Barangay Ginebra figure in the other semis pairing.

“We’re gatecrashers here,” Guiao claimed as he disposed his former team to flip the narrative of an all-San Miguel Corporation and MVP Group semis.

“There are other bigger companies with more resources but we’re the ones who made it this far. So, pinabili lang kami ng suka, and yet we’re here. O pintura kasama na. We’re gatecrashers here,” the fiery mentor added.

“They’re already having a party and they allowed us to enter the gate. So, we might as well join the party. It’s just the way it is.”

The Elasto Painters have not gone past the semis in their last three stints, losing to San Miguel in last year’s all-Filipino edition before bowing to TNT in the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup.

Guiao and the rest of Rain or Shine hope their fourth straight dance will yield a better result.

“That’s our motto: just show up, be there and one of these days maybe you’ll get to the next level. We are here, so we’ll try our best. TNT is a champion team, going for a grand slam but we’ll be there and see where we go from there,” he said.

“As I always tell my players, just give your all, play at your best every game. We run our style of play, we run our system; put 100 percent effort into it, whatever the result is.”