Painters go for sweep, seek to end 4-year title drought

Game One: Rain or Shine 105, Alaska 97

Game Two: Rain or Shine 105, Alaska 103

Game Three: Rain or Shine 112, Alaska 108

Game Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

7 p.m. – Alaska vs Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines – With a romp all the way from the eliminations, Rain or Shine looks destined to nail a first crown in four years – rain or shine.

A team that has never been as lethal and vicious as it is now, the Elasto Painters take the first of their four cracks at wrapping up the 2016 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup championship, going for a rare four-game sweep versus the beleaguered Alaska Milk side tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Game time is at 7 p.m. after the brief rites for the Nice Day Coffee Best Player of the Conference and the Best Import winner who will be the recipient of the Bobby Parks Trophy.   

Alaska forward Calvin Abueva is the top choice for the BPC plum while Meralco’s Arinze Onuaku is the leading contender for the Best Import award.

Not a single Rain or Shine player is in the running for the top individual award. But the E-Painters as a group are on line to achieve a special feat – to be only the sixth team in league history to win a PBA crown via a 4-0 sweep.

ROS rides the momentum of a great rampage from the eliminations and a wave of scoring records set along the way as the E-Painters go for the kill versus the Aces.

In their sweep of the first three games, the E-Painters distinguished themselves as the first team in eight years to score at least 105 points in three straight games in PBA finals. The last to do the feat was Sta. Lucia Realty in the 2007-08 Philippine Cup.

The E-Painters made it 3-0 versus the Aces Wednesday with a 112-108 win carved behind a torrid shooting marked by 15 three-pointers – matching a finals record set by San Miguel Beer.

Alaska, meanwhile, is now mired in the all-time longest losing streak in PBA finals – seven games dating back to their crushing downfall in the all-Filipino title playoff versus San Miguel Beer.

 “That’s (Alaska blowing away a 3-0 lead in the all-Filipino finals) in our mind. We don’t want to be in that position. We’ll do everything we can to finish Friday,” said ROS coach Yeng Guiao.

Guiao said mental focus would be the key to close out the series.

 “All through the series, we have handled their press well. We’ve been doing that. We’ve played good defense. If we can be consistent and we keep pace with them, I think we’ll be able to finish it,” Guiao said.

 Alaska coach Alex Compton said they would come out for pride more than anything else in Game Four.

 “You don’t win three games on four games on Friday. And I tell you, maybe I’m old fashioned, maybe I’m wrong but I’m all about every possession, about every aspect of every possession,” said Compton.

“We better have some San Miguel so we could make a ‘beer-acle’ happen, I guess,” Compton also said, hoping to duplicate SMB’s record fightback from 0-3 down in the all-Filipino finals.

But just how can the Aces beat a team that seems to be their contra-pelo.

 “We have the materials to beat their press,” noted Guiao, pointing to a battery of smart, good guards in Paul Lee, Jericho Cruz, Gabe Norwood, Maverick Ahanmisi and Chris Tius.

The E-Painters are also beating the Aces on their halfcourt sets with all their gunners including big men Beau Belga, JR Quinahan and Jewel Ponferada.

The Aces came up short in each of the first three games with a lineup minus key players Jvee Casio, Vic Manuel and Eric Menk.

If they fail to come up with something new, the E-Painters could be the sixth team to score a 4-0 win in PBA finals after Northern Cement in the 1985 Reinforced Conference, Swift Mighty Meaty in the 1992 Third Conference, Purefoods in the 2010 Philippine Cup, Talk n Text in the 2013 all-Filipino and San Miguel Beer in the 2015 Governors Cup.

Guiao is in the running for a seventh championship, after earlier title conquests with Swift and Red Bull.