Quoting Mark Twain

#TheFaceThatRunsThePlace
(photo credit: sports5.ph)

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

When the Rain or Shine Elastopainters received 2x PBA MVP James Yap and former PBA Finals MVP Jay Washington in separate deals, it was met largely with criticisms and doubt. After all, we are talking about two legitimate PBA superstars who have probably seen their best days behind them.

Yes they are old, but they sure as hell aren't dead.

Washington, in four games, is averaging a solid 23m 7p 8r while Yap, who had to sit out RoS' first game, isn't far behind with 20m 12p 4r. There are a lot of guys who actually play more minutes than these two "elder statesmen" that do not even average anything close to those numbers.

Now that's impressive.

Looking back, Washington was acquired in a deal when an agreement couldn't be reached with last season's top performer JayR Quinahan. The burly Cebuano averaged somewhere around 14p 8r while helping the team win the PBA Commissioner's Cup last season and was looking for bigger pay with more years. The team opted to trade him for Washington, a reported long-time max-contract player, who was averaging similar numbers with GlobalPort. The kicker here that probably made RoS sign-off is the fact that Washington stands at an athletic 6"8 while Quinahan is 6"4 and chose to lose weight (and put up those numbers) on a contract year.

So yes, it was definitely an upgrade. Though Quinahan is a known bruiser and shotblocker, Washington's not that far behind. Specially when his mind is set on dominating the game.

At RoS, it would be silly to expect Washington to go back to his "main man" days BUT it wouldn't be that surprising to see him average a steady 10p 10r once he really gets into the scheme of things. Head coach Caloy Garcia is giving him a lot of minutes at the 4 and 5 spots, and even allows him to freelance a bit (as has been the general rule when it comes to RoS on offense) to get his shots up.

On to Yap.

The Man. The Face of the PBA.

Traded, discarded, for the next great PBA superstar.

Paul Lee wasn't staying, that was as clear as day. Coach Yeng Guiao talked him into an extension the first time. He delivered the title (Commish Cup as mentioned above), signed and sealed with a brilliant Game 6 performance versus the Alaska Aces. He made good on his promise to play all out.

His manager wanted more for his ward. His manager also kind of wanted the team to take another one of his wards in the Rookie Draft but they didn't.

So yeah, it was clear as day. Paul Lee was a goner.

But RoS managed to get Yap in return. A bit old, coming off a few injuries and maybe lost stats-wise under then Star coach Jason Webb.

But still a gunner. Still James fothermuckin' Yap.

Is he still as good? He's averaging 12p in 20m. How hard is it for a 3-pt gunner to score 15p at least on a good day? Specially when all he has to do is get into his spot, wait for the pass, and shoot when he's open. No hesitation?

That December 18 game versus Star is going to be fun.

@kilikilishot on Twitter