RAIN OR SHINE and San Miguel Beer rekindle their rivalry on Thursday as they start their best-of-five semifinal series in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painters and the Beermen face off at 7 p.m. for Game One of the series, which is expected to be as physical as their confrontation last conference.
Rain or Shine Head Coach Yeng Guiao was fined P20,000 for bumping their former import, Arizona Reid, in their Commissioner’s Cup encounter. Reid played three conferences under Guiao and led the team to the finals of the Governors’ Cup last season before losing to Purefoods (now Star).
But Reid won’t be Guiao’s major concern.
“Every time we play San Miguel Beer our biggest concern is the size of June Mar [Fajardo]. He’s always been a match-up problem for us. Beau [Belga], JR [Quiñahan] and Raymond [Almazan] will have their hands full all series long,” Guiao said.
“I’m confident we can manage the import matchup and the guard matchups. We concede they have more talent and deeper bench, but we will rely on our chemistry and experience together,” he added.
The Beermen beat the Elasto Painters in their lone meeting in the elimination round, 104-91. But at that time, Rain or Shine was still finding its chemistry.
The Elasto Painters won their last seven games entering the semifinal showdown, including a tough 134-132 double-overtime victory over Barako Bull in the quarterfinals on Paul Lee’s heroic. They are in their seventh straight Final Four appearance.
While Rain or Shine needed one game to enter the semifinals, San Miguel Beer almost blew its twice-to-beat advantage to its unseeded quarterfinal foe, Meralco, before getting its act together and pulled off a 102-86 triumph over the Bolts to return to the semifinals.
“We expect a very tough game versus Rain or Shine,” said Beermen Head Coach Leo Austria, whose team owns an eight-game winning streak in the tournament.
While Fajardo, the reigning Most Valuable Player, remains San Miguel Beer’s main offensive threat, Austria hopes the other players will contribute as he expects the Elasto Painters’ defense to concentrate on his six-foot-10 slotman.