Rain or Shine Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao might have found the answers to the puzzle that is June Mar Fajardo and the San Miguel Beermen.
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters brought in import Deon Thompson this Commissioner’s for one specific reason: to at least contain PBA eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo of the San Miguel Beermen.
It worked, and so did the run-and-gun, fast paced Elasto Painters’ brand of basketball.
A 37-21 fourth quarter broke the game wide for coach Yeng Guiao and company, who completed a 107-93 romp of the Beermen for a second-straight win.
[ALSO READ: PBA: Rain or Shine slays champion San Miguel for second-straight Commissioner’s Cup win]
Despite Thompson being in foul trouble in the game as the Elasto Painters’ primary defender opposite of Fajardo, their other bigs in Beau Belga and Keith Datu shared the load against the Kraken in the post.
Rain or Shine managed to limit the Cebuano big man to just two points in the first half. He did, however, score 18 in the final two quarters to still lead the Beermen in points with 20.
“'Yun talaga ‘yung susi para matalo mo ‘yung San Miguel. Kailangan mahirapan si June Mar,” Guiado admitted.
He added: “There’s really no local that can match-up with him [June Mar Fajardo] physically. Even Deon Thompson had a hard time just minimizing his touches and making him less efficient.”
“Deon just did that and he got into foul trouble with that, but the rest of other big guys in Beau [Belga], Keith [Datu] tried to do their share in trying to limit June Mar’s touches,” the fiery coach spoke.
Six Rain or Shine players reached double-digit scoring, led by Thompson’ 18 with Player of the Game Adrian Nocum chipping 15 markers, Caelan Tiongson adding 14 more, and Felix Lemetti and Datu scoring 12 apiece and Jhonard Clarito putting up 10.
“'Yung 37-point fourth quarter is really the phase that we play. I keep pushing the boys that our only chance in beating San Miguel is to play fast,” the seven-time PBA champion said.
Guiao also marveled is their all-around defensive effort, allowing the Beermen to score less than 100 points in their second-straight game.
"Our defense was the key. It’s really the effort that we put out in defense."