Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao is wary of how potent the four-point shot is. It has become Magnolia’s lethal weapon, one that nearly brought down the No.1 seed squad in the opener of their PBA Governors’ Cup best-of-five quarterfinals series Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“We anticipated it. Ang sabi ko sa kanila kanina, kung matatalo man tayo, ang tingin kong puwedeng tumalo sa amin yung three-point shot at four-point shots nila,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. “Yung ibang ginagawa nila kaya naming depensahan.”
“Pero kahit na conscious ka that they can make the three or four, iba pa rin sa actual. Mahirap pa ring depensahan. That’s why part of the game plan is just to be able to lessen their efficiency. Mataas masyado yung 50% shooting sa four-point shot. That’s fantastic shooting.”
Although the Elasto Painters found the resolve to pull off a 109-105 win in Game 1 after holding the Hotshots to just one field goal in a five-minute stretch, Guiao expects Magnolia to utilize this weapon when they square off anew on Friday’s Game 2 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“Parang specialty na ito ni Jerrick Ahanmisi. You have to pay special attention to that,” added Guiao. “Kung nag-mintis lang yun, baka hindi kami masyadong nahirapan, pero yun talaga nagpahirap sa amin. Yun ang halos pumatay sa amin. Fantastic, insane percentages. That’s amazing. I just don’t know if they can keep repeating that.”
Magnolia veteran stars Mark Barroca and Paul Lee are convinced how the four-point shot has become a game changer. As a team, the Hotshots hit six of 12 shots from the four-point region with Ahanmisi leading the way, hitting four of five attempts.
“Tingin ko game changer ito,” said Barroca. “Kasi may mga tumitira sa amin ng four points gay ani Jerrick, si Paul, si Aris (Dionisio). Dahil mayroon kaming mga players na gaya nila weapon na rin talaga namin ito. Because of the four-point shot, tingin ko kaya naming makabalik sa series.”
But more than the four-point shot, Lee believes the Hotshots need to take care on the other important aspects of the game, saying: “In some aspect, like getting the rebounds more kasi sa latter part ang dami naming ibinigay na offensive rebounds sa Rain or Shine, which caused us the game. But at least, thru the four-point shot, nagkaroon kami ng chance at naging exciting until the last part of the game.”
