Yeng Guiao, the coach of Rain or Shine, was candid when discussing the added joy of defeating Magnolia in the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup playoffs.

Magnolia might have experienced karma when he implied that it seemed the Hotshots lost to Converge on purpose so it would play the Elasto Painters rather than San Miguel, even though he did not state it explicitly.

As the last day of eliminations approached, RoS had already cemented its position as Group B’s top team and was awaiting their rival for the quarterfinals.

Converge or Magnolia were their rivals; on September 23, they squared off in a pick-your-poison match, with the winner playing the Beermen and the loser playing the Elasto Painters.

After losing 89-82, the Hotshots dropped to the No. 4 seed in Group A.

st because they chose not to extend the playing time of some of their stars, such Paul Lee and Mark Barroca, in order to save them for the postseason.

“We will face the No. 1 team with a lot of talent and a very good import. We’ll just try to be ready. We want our players to stay healthy,” Victolero said in describing Rain or Shine and their strategy.

More fuel on the already raging fire that is Rain or Shine

One of the team’s sources of motivation, according to Guiao, was the outcome of the Converge-Magnolia game.

Guiao remarked, “We felt a little challenged kasi alam namin na parang ginusto ng Magnolia na kami ang makatapat nila nung game nila with Converge,”. “Buong game nila against Converge, mas importante sa kanila ‘yung makapagpahinga daw ‘yung mga players kesa mag-compete sa larong ‘yun. To me, it was really a conscious choice on their part to play us,” the coach added.

According to Guiao, Gabe Norwood, the playing assistant coach, even brought up Magnolia’s remarks to the players.
In a grind-out series that lasted the entire length, Rain or Shine defeated Magnolia, with the Elasto Painters winning Game Five, 113-103. Later, Guiao claimed that defeating Magnolia had greatly aided their title pursuit.

The Elasto Painters now face TNT in the best-of-seven semifinals, which start on Wednesday, and that presents a larger test.

For the time being, Guiao stated that they would rejoice their victory, but he also acknowledged that the Tropang Giga will have difficulties in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, according to CJ Perez, San Miguel is having trouble with Converge in their quarterfinal PBA Governors’ Cup matchup.

He is confident that the Beermen will return to the semifinals if they find their groove, even though they are now in a win-or-go-home scenario.

Perez was one of the players who struggled with form in Game 4 of SMB’s 114-100 defeat, which set up the sudden-death format.

The Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference from the previous season ended with just 11 points and was scoreless in the last two quarters due to foul issues that plagued him in the second half.

He said that his performance suffered after getting whistled for the fifth time during the third quarter.

San Miguel will play its sixth game in a week, having also suited up for the East Asia Super League’s 2024–25 season kickoff.

However, Perez isn’t one to make excuses, and he claimed that the Beemen had no issues, either psychologically or physically, when they played every other game.

The Beermen and FiberXers’ winner of the game that would determine whether they go to the semifinals will play Barangay Ginebra.