PBA GovCup Finals: Rain or Shine leads 1-0

Norwood's speed and length
is causing trouble for Big Game James

In a game expected to be in the battle-tested, veteran-laden B-Meg Llamados, the Rain or Shine Elastopainters hacked out an impressive win anchored on solid defense, balanced offense and unbridled confidence and composure.

While the Llamados looked out of sync and a step slower (blame it on them having to play a grind-out game against the Ginebra Gin Kings last Friday), they were flat out beaten by a team that was ready for the big stage. Defensively, the Elastopainters worked hard as a team to keep the ball from moving side to side as the Llamados often do. James Yap top scored for the Llamados with 19, but import Marqus Blakely, PJ Simon and even Marc Pingris (who has been on a recent tear) were held to no more than 12 points each.


On the other end of the floor, the Elastopainters' played to their usual, balanced-attacking strengths and shared the wealth led by import Jamelle Cornley, Rookie of the Year shoo-in Paul Lee and all-around guy Gabe Norwood.

It should be noted that the Llamados looked to be in control in the first half behind their hard working frontline, but ran out of gas in the second when the Elastopainters made their run (specially in the third behind Cornley). The game was hotly contested that even the usually composed Tim Cone of the Llamados (okay, composed would be stretching it, but compared to the Elastopainters' coach Yeng Guiao, Cone would be a saint) threw a chair at the court out of disgust.

Based on what we saw however, you can't really say that the Elastopainters were being favored by the coaches. They were being overly physical, yes, but that's how the PBA is played these days. The biggest difference is, the Llamados don't have a consistent physical player (be it a big man or a slasher) while the Elastopainters have guys like that by the dozen.

From Lee to Ryan Arana, these guys can force the issue and drive to the paint when need be. Ditto with Jireh Ibanes who scored 8 points off the bench and did a stellar job on keeping Simon (sometimes Yap) in check. For the Llamados? Yap is more of a finesse player while Simon only drives hard to the rim when the spirit moves him (he drives hard, but finishes soft around the rim).

Can the Llamados still salvage the series and win their second straight 2012 title? Of course. But Blakely needs to be more active and force some of the action versus the heftier Cornley. Yancy de Ocampo, who we picked as a vital X-factor, needs to also establish himself down low. Finishing with only 2 points in a game where he's at least 3 inches taller than the biggest guy on the Elastopainters' roster (Beau Belga at a generously listed 6"6) is just not going to cut it. Cone will probably go to him in the next game, since they won't win this series from the perimeter alone.

Urbiztondo also needs to make his shots from deep to stretch the floor and open things up inside for Blakely and de Ocampo. Pingris needs to provide some energy, but there's only so much a guy can do when he's being muscled out of the paint by guys who are 6"6 tall and wide (Belga and JayR Quinahan).

For the Elastopainters to win, they need only to keep playing as a team and physical. This team tends to fall in love with isolation plays for long stretches which works from time to time but cannot be a staple if they're set on winning their first ever PBA title. What's scary here is that, Jeffrei Chan, the team's best scorer when open, didn't even go for his usual three point barrages as there was no need for it (and the Llamados did some good work in covering him-- although to a fault since it looked like they forgot about everyone else).