Yeng Guiao calls Rain or Shine’s PBA semifinal run a “victory” and a “step forward”

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters continued to make strides under head coach Yeng Guiao, as evidenced by their progression to the semifinals of the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Cup.

Rain or Shine failed to advance past the Final Four, losing 4–2 to the Grand Slam-seeking TNT Tropang Giga in their best-of-seven semifinal series. Guiao lamented his team’s exit, expressing confidence that the Elasto Painters had the potential to push TNT to a do-or-die Game 7.

“It’s disappointing. We felt that this was a big chance for us to at least take it to a Game 7, but wala e. In the last three minutes, we missed some shots, we made some turnovers. Again, it’s closing out games—‘yun pa rin ‘yung problema namin. We could not close it out; we couldn’t make big plays when we needed them most. But we still look at it as a positive development for the team,” Guiao said in the post-match press conference.

#WATCH: Coach Yeng Guiao believes having Beau Belga in the #PBA2025 semis could’ve made a huge difference for Rain or Shine against a banged-up TNT squad 🏀

📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/lD6oNaaJA5

— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) July 6, 2025

Despite their semifinal exit, the 66-year-old hailed the team’s performance, calling their Final Four appearance a “victory” and a “step forward.”

“We still look at it as a victory overall for us. The consistency of the team—making four semifinal stints and going through all of that—tingin ko nag-a-add doon sa experience at knowledge ng mga batang players namin. I think they need to experience disappointments; they need to experience playing with the good teams and closing out games. Overall, it’s still a positive conference for us,” he added.

As Guiao pointed out, the Elasto Painters have reached the Final Four in most recent conferences. This latest loss marked their third consecutive semifinal defeat to TNT, following similar outcomes in the Season 49 Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup.

Rain or Shine is expected to bounce back stronger in the next conference with the return of veteran center Beau Belga and rising stars Luis Villegas and Felix Lemetti. Belga was diagnosed with vertigo earlier in the season, while Villegas and Lemetti were sidelined by ACL and hand injuries, respectively.

“Tingin ko, hindi naman kailangan ng malaking overhaul ‘yung team. What’s important is that Beau comes back, Luis gets to play, and Felix returns. Then maybe we can think of an upgrade after that,” Guiao concluded.

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