Yeng Guiao shows Siot how it's done

Ay 10-man rotation ba kamo? Chicken.

While most would rave about the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters' mighty efforts on the hard court (which is how it should be), credit should go to their temperamental head coach Yeng Guiao-- who showed the opposition how "heavy rotations" are done in the PBA.

As you all know, Ginebra's own Siot Tangquincen (and Jong Uichico) have been under fire early this conference for tinkering with its line up a little too much for their fans' liking. Stars sit in favor of younger, untested players during clutch/ close games, guys who look to be "in the zone" are taken out unexpectedly and so on.

This even led to the Gin Kings' star players Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk to rant about the crooked rotation and question their coach's decision openly via different media platforms.

In the Quarterfinals, the results of the Eliminations experiment showed as Rob Labagala- who was playing starter minutes for the team, sat in favor of Mike Cortez (who, to his credit, was playing like he was still wearing green and white). Jayjay Helterbrand, who wasn't reported to be injured, also played a minimal role during the short series and was hardly a factor. John Wilson, a guy who could've been used to keep Paul Lee at bay in the first game (and probably asked to stay in front of Jeffrei Chan in tonight's match-up) was also buried on the bench for one reason or the other.

Either Siot and Jong were just saving their stars for the big games (thus the Elims round benching) or, well, forget that. It's pretty clear that they were saving their big guns for the Quarterfinals (as Tubid and Cortez saw more daylight-- I don't know about Helterbrand though) only to have that blow up in their faces due to lack of familiarity/ on-court chemistry.

Truth be told, the only time the Gin Kings looked like a team was when Mark Caguioa called his own number, and everyone else concentrated on either playing defense or giving him the ball. Simple basketball-- but one that is hardly effective in this level of play.

On the other side of the floor, Guiao established his rotation early-- which is, well, he didn't have one. He plays about 9-10 guys (11 in tonight's game) regularly, and doesn't stick with a player for more than 7 to 8 minutes at a time.

This way, no matter who he had on the floor, he was assured that guys knew their roles and gave them enough freedom to make mistakes which cannot be said for how Ginebra's coaching staff went on with their business.

Happy for Guiao who is finally back into the Semifinals after a long while. Hate him for his antics, swagger and mean mug all you want, but the guy can coach and squeeze every ounce of fight off his players.

Also, the PBA board should look into Jeffrei Chan. They should check if he really is Chan, or Allan Caidic on heavy doses of Chin Chun Su.