Don't Cry for Rain or Shine

Tiu-torial's now in session
Photo courtesy of Interaksyon.com)

As painful as being swept from the PBA Philippine Cup Finals may seem, the Rain or Shine Elastopainters and their ever-growing fanbase should not feel sorry for themselves. While others were caught off guard by the way this team was blatantly man-handled by the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters in four games, don't forget that this is still an over-achieving roster that doesn't feature household names as compared to 8 of the 10 teams in the league.

We say that because truthfully, even the hapless and rebuilding GlobalPort Batang Pier has established stars like Willie Miller and Gary David on the fold. This team? They have the all-around 10-5-5 guy Gabe Norwood, followed by two young studs who are still trying to make a name for themselves in reigning PBA Rookie of the Year Paul Lee and streak shooter Jeffrei Chan. The rest of the guys on the roster wouldn't even make a Team SMC or MVP rotation-- rising Jervy Cruz included (undersized power forwards don't make waves anymore in the PBA unless they're a hybrid like Alaska's Calvin Abueva).

So what's next for the Elastopainters following the blowout?

Hopefully, they get this series out of their systems as soon as possible. They lack a solid post man who could make plays for himself and draw the double teams. Either Cruz gets stronger and puts up 12 and 10s a night, or they get someone else to do that for them (like import Jamelle Cornley did when he wasn't driving into the lane when they won the Governor's Cup). Big men Beau Belga and JayR Quinahan should also be pictures of consistency, whenever they're not making shots, it seemed that the interest in playing sound basketball also wanes. Quinahan's shot blocking ability is on an elite level, but both burly 6"5 centers should pound the defensive glass more (we concede the offensive rebounds since both are high post to three point arc jumpshooters).

There's also a solid core rising with Norwood, Lee, Chan, Cruz, Belga, Quinahan followed by team captain and defensive ace Jireh Ibanes, Ryan Arana and Ronnie Matias. We love Arana's undying spunk and swagger and in the last couple of games in the Finals it appeared as though he was the only guy who wanted to win. Ibanes was a non-factor in the series, but only because of the match-ups. The Elastopainters needed all five guys on the floor to score to counter the Texters, so it would've been very difficult to put in Ibanes whose guy could easily sag off him. As for the swash-buckling combo-forward Matias, he (along with Larry Rodriguez) are the new age version of Eddie Laure. He has the basics covered, just needs to be consistent and not hesitant with the ball when it's given to him.

At point guard, we also love how the Elastopainters have two of the more solid guys you could have out there. First there's TY Tang, vastly under-rated by a lot of folks but arguably one of the more stable lead guards in the PBA. He hardly turns the ball over, makes great half court reads, and on fastbreaks, always has confidence in his free throw pull-ups.

The other one, rookie Chris Tiu, has also opened a lot of eyes with his style of play. He's not exactly a point guard per se, but he can play it and make the correct passes. He is also a sound defender who thinks before he reacts. He became more aggressive in the last two-three games and was trying to take advantage of his match-up over the Texters' smaller Jimmy Alapag, but maybe he should have started with that early.

For a modest team of over achievers, no one should be crying for the Elastopainters or calling this conference a disappointment. They did very well in fact, and two of the four games could've tilted in their favor easily. Give them more time to grow and fully incorporate the returning Lee and newcomer Tiu into the mix and they'll be set.

Now, if management is able to swing a deal for a post-up 6"7 or up center, that would be the quintessential missing piece.