Painters optimistic on winning back-to-back PBA crowns

Games Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. – Meralco vs Phoenix

7 p.m. – Mahindra vs Star

MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine likes its chance for a second straight championship with its intact local lineup reinforced by an import with better all-around skills than the one that helped the Elasto Painters rule the recent PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

“Dior Lowhorn is like a Pierre Henderson-Niles who can score. If we won a title with Pierre, much more with Dior. We’re okay with Lowhorn,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.

Henderson-Niles had limited offensive skills but showcased defensive and rebounding prowess in helping the E-Painters get past the Barangay Ginebra Kings, San Miguel Beermen and the Alaska Milk Aces in the Commissioner’s Cup playoffs.

The E-Painters reigned supreme in the mid-season tourney despite a meager average of 9.6 points by their import.

Lowhorn, meanwhile, normed 30.1 points on 56-percent shooting on top of 11.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in his previous PBA tours of duty with Barangay Ginebra and Globalport.

“I think we’ve got the right import fit for us. We were successful with Henderson-Niles, having a big guy who’s a threat at the post, who can defend bigs. Lowhorn is a bigger threat, at least offensively than Henderson-Niles,” said Guiao of Lowhorn, a seasoned international campaigner at 29.

Lowhorn could only reach the quarterfinals in the 2013 Governors Cup with the Barangay Ginebra Kings who were then badly short-handed minus Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar.

“We didn’t have a full team with Ginebra, so this is the first time I get a full squad. I’m the same old player,” said Lowhorn, a bulky 6-foot-5 player out of Texas Tech and San Francisco U.

The E-Painters and Lowhorn make their debut in the 2016 Governors Cup versus the Tropang TNT Texters on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It’s Meralco versus Phoenix Petroleum at 4:15 p.m. then Mahindra against Star at 7 p.m. in the tournament inaugurals tomorrow at the Big Dome.

Lowhorn is to battle with a number of PBA returnees including San Miguel’s AZ Reid, Star’s Marqus Blakely, Ginebra’s Paul Harris, Blackwater’s Eric Dawson, Globalport’s Dominique Sutton, Meralco’s Allen Durham, and NLEX’s Henry Walker.

The new imports include James White of Mahindra, LaDontae Henton of Alaska, Phoenix’s Marcus Simmons and Talk n Text’s Mario Little.

Six Asian imports strut their stuff in the tourney and these are Syrian Imad Qahwash for Blackwater, Palestine Omar Krayem for Globalport, Iranian Mohammad Jamshidi for Meralco, Lebanese Rodrigue Akl for NLEX, Korean Lee Kwan Hee for Phoenix, and Syrian Michael Madanly for TNT.

Meanwhile, Meralco and Phoenix agreed on a trade deal sending Ronjay Buenafe to the Fuel Masters camp in exchange for Jonathan Uyloan.