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MANILA, Philippines – There could be a lot of excuses to defend Rain or Shine’s dismal 0-3 start in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup, yet Beau Belga isn’t buying into any of them.
Instead, the burly forward wants to turn his focus on helping the team redeem itself after the Elasto Painters absorbed an 89-106 beating from Alaska on Wednesday, October 3.
“Wala namang ibang options eh. Kailangan mo lang bumawi. We have to solve kung ano’ng problema namin. Back to zero,” he told reporters after the game.
(There are no other options. We just need to bounce back. We have to solve what our problem is. We need to go back to zero.)
The Elasto Painters were groomed to end their dry spell as they entered the final frame with the upper hand only to witness the Aces rain on their parade.
Leading 77-75 after the first 3 quarters, Rain or Shine crumbled when it mattered most as it scored only 12 points in the payoff period while allowing Alaska to pour in 31.
The meltdown could be linked to the team’s time away from each other with the Elasto Painters’ core of players serving in the national team for almost two months.
Rain or Shine also started its campaign more than a month after the season-ending conference began, meaning all of the other teams have began to pick up momentum.
Still, Belga doesn’t see it like that.
“Hindi magiging factor ‘yung matagal kang nag-intay. And kahit naman matagal kang [hindi naglaro], walang options para sabihin mong maging dahilan ‘yun eh,” he said.
(Having a long layoff will never be a factor. And even if we did not play for a long period of time, that should not be an excuse.)
“[G]inusto namin ‘yun na mapasama sa [national team]. Okay naman ‘yun eh. Kailangan lang naming mafind out kung ano ‘yung problema namin.”
(We wanted to play in the national team. That’s okay. We just need to figure out what our problem is.)
He is also not pointing fingers on new import Terrence Watson, who suffered from a suspected food poisoning during the game.
“Ako tingin ko, okay naman siya. Hustle player. Talagang binibigay niya lahat. Nagkataon lang na may nararamdaman siya. So hindi mo mapipilit.”
(He’s okay for me. He’s a hustle player and he gives his all. It just so happened that he wasn’t feeling well. So you can’t expect him to give it all.)
The Elasto Painters aren’t given much reprieve as they next face Blackwater, a team that has won 4 of its 5 games, on Sunday, October 7, in Sta. Rosa, Laguna but Belga keeps the faith.
“I think we’re good. 0-3 pa lang ito. Meron din kaming ganitong start dati and we still made it to the semis. So tiwala lang sa mga kasama.”
(I think we’re good. This is just 0-3. We also had starts like this before but we still made it to the semis. So we just need to trust each other.) – Rappler.com
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