Come Rain or Shine

Southern Sharpshooters
(Photo credit to the owner)

What now, Rain or Shine Elastopainters?

First, Coach Yeng Guiao opted to bolt for the NLEX Road Warriors which basically offered him the real difference between an RoS “max contract” and that of a well-financed team. No, there was no under the table scheming here and there. Only an opportunity for Guiao to work on other things “outside of the basketball court” such as handling NLEX’s Corporate Social Responsibility program which would most likely help him win (back) a political seat in the future.

Second was JayR Quinahan, this season’s most consistent player and leading scorer at times, being dealt to Globalport Batang Pier for Jay Washington. The beefy forward reinvented himself this season, in hopes of securing a longer deal perhaps, averaging 14 and 7 as compared to Washington's 8 and 8. When the negotiating period came, both sides couldn't agree on the length and well, here we are now. We respect Washington's body of work, but Quinahan's intimidating defense and shot blocking will be missed.

Finally, came the biggest trade of them all: 27-year-old superstar guard Paul Lee for the “face of the PBA,” 34-year-old, 2x MVP James Yap.

Yap will make RoS an attraction post-Guiao. RoS has never been shy about wanting to get more fans and reaching a bigger market. It is one of the reasons why they stubbornly keep holding on to Jeric Teng (whose brother Jeron is the real draw but hey) even if it appeared that Guiao was not big on the former UST Tiger. We are not going to question Yap's skills, only that he has been battling several injuries the last couple of years and may very well be on his way to retirement in the next three years, while Lee hasn't even reached his prime as we speak.

They also traded rookie Josan Nimes to Mahindra for a future pick, just for kicks.

Right now, we have Maverick Ahanmisi, Jericho Cruz (re-signed), Jeffrei Chan, James Yap, Don Trollano, Jireh Ibanes, Jay Washington, Jewel Ponferrada, Beau Belga (re-signed for three-year max) and Raymond Almazan. Chris Tiu has an option to end his contract early, but would most likely see it through. Gabe Norwood is still on vacation, but we fully expect him to re-sign since money plus plus has never really looked like a big issue with him.

Honestly, that roster still looks good under Coach Caloy Garcia. They will most likely keep Guiao’s run and gun style, with a few adjustments here and there. Guiao likes to rotate guys a lot while whenever Garcia was asked to run the show (when Guiao has appointments or was busy with the elections), he would play the core guys rather extensively (say 25-30 minutes per instead of Guiao’s 20-25).

Our projected best five:

PG Ahanmisi
SG Cruz
SF Norwood
PF Belga
C Almazan

But what a luxury it is for Coach Caloy to have Chan and Yap on the bench. Ideally, you’d want something like: Chan-Norwood to start, then Yap-Cruz to sub in. That way, you balance out the shooter and the defender (Cruz can play steady D, not on the level of Norwood, but acceptable still). For the bigs, they will look a bit thin with Ponferrada and Washington rotating, but that could easily be solved come import-conference time. This way, all four bigs can get steady minutes like this season and average double-doubles.

We have been ranting on Twitter about how we will move from RoS to NLEX (Guiao) or Star (Lee), but since we have invested so much with RoS, and the players we have grown to love are still there... we are as excited/ anxious as you are to see what comes next.

Dare to dream once again, E-Painters fans.