RAIN or Shine is all fired up to defend the crown—even without Yeng Guiao as coach and Paul Lee as gunner.
The Elasto Painters open defense of their Commissioner’s Cup title in the Philippine Basketball Association today against a team that tapped their former coach, the NLEX Road Warriors.
The game is set at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, right after the 4:15 p.m. tussle between Meralco and Mahindra.
The defending champions, who disposed of Alaska in six games with Lee hoisting the Finals Most Valuable Player trophy last season, will be reinforced by former GlobalPort import Shawn Taggart against the Road Warriors, who are hoping to finally get into Guiao’s system.
Taggart is a 6-foot-9 globetrotter who did the rounds in Europe and China. He will bang bodies with the Road Warriors’ Wayne Chism—a 6-foot-8 returnee who has played under Guiao before.
Rain or Shine finished the eliminations of the previous Philippine Cup at eighth place. The team faced eventual champion San Miguel Beer in the quarterfinals and was booted out in a do-or-die match.
Meralco, meanwhile, struggled to find answers to its poor showing when it finished as the second-worst team in the all-Filipino conference.
Although Lee was shipped to Star in a blockbuster trade with James Yap, Rain or Shine remains a threat with solid starters Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Beau Belga, Jericho Cruz and Raymond Almazan still manning the fort.
The Bolts, on the other hand, will rely on its usual deadly players Cliff Hodge, Reynel Hugnatan and rookie Jonathan Grey.