Rain or Shine Elasto Painters

Now it can be told. Penn State power forward Jamelle Cornley, the MVP of the 2009-10 National Invitation Tournament, was all set to fly in to replace Rod Nealy as Rain Or Shine's import but never got to board the plane as the Elasto Painters failed to advance to the PBA Fiesta Conference semifinals.

Last Sunday, Rain Or Shine lost a 105-100 overtime heartbreaker to B-Meg in Game 5 of their best-of-5 quarterfinal series before over 21,000 fans at the Araneta Coliseum to wind up the conference with a 13-13 record.

Cornley, a 240-pound inside operator, averaged in double figures in scoring in four years at Penn State. As a senior in 2009-10, he hit at a 14.4 clip and led the varsity to the NIT crown despite a separated and tightly-bandaged shoulder. Penn State posted a 27-11 record in Cornley's farewell season and registered the most wins ever in campus history.

"Cornley was on standby," said Rain Or Shine coach Caloy Garcia yesterday. "We took a gamble in replacing Jai Lewis with Rod and it nearly paid off. Rod's a talented one-on-one player but his problem is he has a low basketball IQ. It's difficult for Rod to execute even simple plays. He's also not a defensive player. He's a super scorer but when he's on the floor, there's very little ball movement."

Garcia said when B-Meg raced to a 21- point lead in the first half of last Sunday's clincher, he spoke to Nealy before the start of the third period.

"I told Rod I would play all-Filipino and see how far we could go with it," said Garcia. "It was fine with Rod. Sure enough, we came back and even took the lead without Rod on the floor. Late in the game, I put Rod back in for rebounding and size. After we lost, Rod even mentioned I could gone all-Filipino in Game 4 which we also lost."

Garcia said in the dressing room after losing in overtime, he told his players to hold their heads up. "Our locals gave their best," he continued. "I'm very proud of them. Nobody expected us to go this far. We survived two knockout games in the wildcards. With Jay-R (Reyes) suspended in Game 5, we were a lot smaller than B-Meg. We had problems with their length. But we never gave up. No one's to blame for the loss. Sol (Mercado) took that three-point shot which would've won it for us in regulation. He brought us back and if he made that shot, we would've advanced to the semis. We just played a terrible first half. If we played as hard as we did in the second half, for sure, we would've won."

Garcia said Nealy's performance had nothing to do with his plan to leave the day after Game 5 to attend the three-day tryouts for the Korean league in Las Vegas.

"Actually, the import I like is B-Meg's Clif Brown," said Garcia. "If B-Meg releases him, we'll get him for the next conference provided the import limit is still 6-6. He's an all-around player. He can play the post. When B-Meg brought in (Tony) Washam, we didn't know what to expect. We certainly didn't expect him to be that good. He plays without any wasted motion. He was a big difference in our series."

Garcia said he doesn't expect major changes in Rain Or Shine's lineup next season even as at least eight player contracts are expiring. "We'll sit down with management and talk about it soon," he said. Among the players with expiring contracts are Ryan Arana, Eddie Laure, Mike Hrabak, Allan Salangsang, Mark Telan, Don Dulay, Jeff Chan and Jireh Ibanes.

Garcia said the team will continue to improve with leaders Gabe Norwood and Mercado.

"Gabe was outstanding all season," said Garcia. "He plays multiple positions and he's where our defense comes from. What we'd like is to get an athletic three-guy so we can move Gabe to the two spot. After Gabe, we really have nobody to step in. Jervy (Cruz) is more a four than a three and when we play with an import like Rod, Jay-R sacrifices a lot of his playing time. We need more balance. We'll study who's available in the draft and among the free agents."

Garcia said playing before 21,000 fans last Sunday was a big thrill. "I didn't really notice how big the crowd was during the game," he said. "But when I watched the replay on TV, I was surprised. It was like watching a college game. The players on both benches were standing up, cheering every play. It was a different aura."

As for the semifinals, Garcia said he'll watch every game until the climax of the Last Dance.

"Both semifinal series will be close," said Garcia. "I plan to watch every game live in the stadium, to get a feel for the semis, to get in the mood of getting back to the semis. Talk ‘N' Text is deadly in transition while Alaska knows how to play the clock, relying on its system defensively and offensively. San Miguel has a lot of scorers but B-Meg has size and Washam's ability to score takes the load off James ( Yap )."

Garcia said his choice as the conference's best import is Talk ‘N' Text's Shawn Daniels. "He's the best role-playing import in the league," said Garcia. "He sacrifices his offense to get his teammates involved. He doesn't look to score. He just does what the coach expects him to do – get the rebounds, protect the interior and look for the open man when he's doubled at the post."

In both conferences this season, Rain Or Shine lost to B-Meg in two pulsating quarterfinal series that went the distance. As Garcia said, the Elasto Painters' display of toughness against tall odds was nothing to be ashamed of. - www.philstar.com

Tony Washam carried B-Meg Derby Ace into his shoulders for four full quarters before the rest of the Llamados took over in the extra period of a dramatic 105-100 win over Rain or Shine Sunday at the Big Dome.

The win enabled the Llamados of an entry into the semifinals of the PBA Fiesta Cup.

Playing in just his second game, Washam, a second-generation import, exploded for a conference-high 49 points before a roaring crowd of 20,026, steering the Llamados to the hard-earned victory that almost slipped out of their hands after watching the Elasto Painters ferociously fought back from as much as a 23-point deficit.

The Llamados clinched the grueling quarterfinals affair, 3-2. They trailed the Elasto Painters midway in the series, 1-2, before winning the last two games by deciding to junk Clif Brown for Washam.

"You're just seeing the tip of the iceberg," said coach Ryan Gregorio of his import, a European League veteran, who's a son of former Gilbey's Gin import Dartona Washam.

The younger Washam shot 17-of-33 from the field and was 6-of-9 from downtown.

"Tony just came in at the right place and at the right time."

The reigning Philippine Cup champions now take on the well-rested and defending champion San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals series that begins Wednesday.

For a while, the semifinals stint looked bleak for the Llamados, who lost a huge 56-33 lead. They found themselves trailing 85-88 with 1:41 to go in regulation on a follow-up basket by Eddie Laure.

Laure's basket capped Rain or Shine's spectacular second-half comeback, but the Elasto Painters just simply couldn't hang on.

Raffi Reavis scored on a follow-up, and after Sol Mercado had a split, Niño Canaleta hit his only triple for the night to push the Llamados up again at 90-89 with 47 seconds left to play.

Mercado had another split in the ensuing possession to level the score at 90, and both squads traded ill-advised shots, with Mercado failing to win it after launching a long three-point shot at the buzzer.

The Llamados' locals went to work from there.

The Llamados raced to a 96-90 lead, before keeping its poise when the Elasto Painters came to within a field-goal twice - at 100-98 and 102-100 - both coming off baskets by Gabe Norwood.

James Yap practically sealed it with a pair of charities with 10.1 seconds to go, 104-100.

"It was truly an incredible series," said Gregorio. "Every time we face Rain or Shine, we were always pushed to the limit. I've coached for more than 300 games, and this is one of the toughest, most emotional. It's because of experience why we prevailed."

Rico Maierhofer led all Derby Ace's locals with 17 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late in regulation, while James Yap, sporting a slightly swollen left eyelid caused by an inadvertent head-butt in Game Four from Mercado, highlighted his 13-point performance by connecting on all six free throw attempts in overtime.

Norwood finished with 25 and Mercado added 23 for the Elasto Painters, who only got 12 points from import Rod Nealy. Coach Caloy Garcia opted to sit out Nealy in the second half at the height of Rain or Shine's searing rally. - RCJ, GMANews.TV

Scores:

Derby Ace 105 - Washam 49, Maierhofer 17, Yap. R. 14, Ya J. 13, Reavis 8, Canaleta 3, Aratadi 1, Simon 0, Pingris 0, Allado 0.

Rain or Shine 100 - Norwood 25, Mercado 23, Nealy 12, Laure 12, Cruz 8, Arellano 6, Arana 5, Chan 3, Hrabak 3, Telan 2, Salangsang 1, Ibanes 0.

Quarter scores: 29-14, 58-40, 72-69, 90-90, 105-100

Flaunting the heart of a champion, B-Meg Derby Ace played with the needed urgency to overwhelm Rain or Shine, 92-78, and sent their PBA Fiesta Cup quarterfinal series to a deciding game.

Derby Ace's move of bringing in a new import worked wonders for the Llamados as reinforcement Tony Washam teamed up with local bet James Yap in a dominating Game 4 performance as the reigning Philippine Cup champions led from start to finish at the Astrodome.

Playing his first game on local soil, Washam, a late replacement for Cliff Brown, lighted up the scoreboards with 29 points and 13 rebounds while Yap added 17 in the lopsided win that tied the best-of-five series at 2-2.

Game 5 is set Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum, with the Elasto Painters in danger of missing the services of key big man JR Reyes.

The 6-foot-7 center was assessed a flagrant foul 2 with six minutes remaining and the outcome of the match already settled after he elbowed Derby Ace's Raffi Reavis.

Roger Yap had 17 for Derby Ace, which also got a combined 25 points from the trio of Reavis, Rico Maierhofer, and Don Allado.

"We came into the game with just one mindset - and that is to survive. Hopefully, we'll be able to pull through again on Sunday," said Maierhofer, who grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds.

The Elasto Painters never really got on track the moment they fell behind early in the game.

They trailed by 12 after one quarter, 14 at the half and totally lost grip of the match in the last two periods of the contest when Mark Pingris, playing even with a slight tear on his left thigh muscle, canned in two free throws to give Derby Ace a 60-37 advantage.

The closest Rain or Shine could get was at 81-64 with five minutes remaining before Washam hit two straight three-pointers to keep the Elasto Painters at bay, 90-67.

The Elasto Painters were so frustrated that even back up center Mark Telan elbowed Paul Artadi to the face in the final two minutes, with the former La Salle stalwart fortunate enough to be penalized with only a flagrant foul 1.

Rod Nealy led the Elasto Painters with 26 points and Jeff Chan was the only local player in double figures with 15.

Sol Mercado and Gabe Norwood, the Elasto Painters' acknowledged 1-2 punch, was held to just eight and six points, respectively. - JVP, GMANews.TV

Scores:

B-Meg Derby Ace 92 - Washam 29, Yap J. 17, Yap R. 13, Allado 9, Maierhofer 8, Reavis 8, Pingris 5, Artadi 3, Simon 0, Adducul 0.

Rain or Shine 78 - Nealy 26, Chan 15, Norwood 8, Mercado 6, Reyes 6, Hrabak 6, Laure 5, Cruz 4, Tang 2, Arellano 0, Arana 0, Ibanes 0, Telan 0.

Quarter scores: 26-14, 43-29, 70-49, 92-78.