Guiao, Painters aim to solve TNT puzzle

TNT Tropang 5G got Rain or Shine’s numbers in their past two semifinals meetings this season.

Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao hopes the third time’s the charm for his wards when they face the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup best-of-seven semis series erupting today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“I guess with so many times we’ve played against them, we’ll be a little bit more comfortable this time. I think we already know the things that will give us an advantage in our game plan,” Guiao said of the same opposition that booted Rain or Shine out of the season-opening Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup Final Four.

The Elasto Painters gate crashed into their fourth straight semis appearance after upending twice-to-beat NLEX in the quarterfinals.

Although wiser after back-to-back heartaches at the hands of the Tropang 5G, Guiao remains wary of how deeply talented TNT is.

“They are talented. It’s a given that TNT is a very talented team,” he said.

The fiery mentor also downplayed the supposed advantage of his team in an all-Filipino tournament with Tropang 5G resident reinforcement three-time Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson out of the picture.

“Of course, that’s what you’ll think, but come game time against TNT and facing the likes of (Calvin) Oftana, (RR) Pogoy, and now they have (Jordan) Heading,” Guiao said.

“You’d think that RHJ makes TNT strong, but they remain formidable in the all-Filipino. You can never say they’re less competitive (without Jefferson),” he added.

The tactician also brushed aside any false sense of security playing against a limping team.

TNT barely made it past the quarter with manpower problems after Brian Heruela followed Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac — both ruled out for the rest of the season and possibly beyond — to the sidelines due to injury.

Heading could also be a game-time decision due to nagging back problems.

But Guiao knows Tropang 5G, with their season championship sweep aspirations at stake, will be a different animal come game time.

“They have a purpose. It’s hard to go up against a team that has a specific goal,” he said.

“But of course, we also have a purpose. Let’s just see which team will achieve its goal.”