Kaya nang sumabay ng Rain or Shine sa mas malalaki, mas matatangkad na kalaban sa Philippine Basketball Association.
Ito ay matapos nilang kunin sa nakaraang PBA Rookie Draft sina Luis Villegas at Keith Datu bilang kanilang No.3 at No.4 picks kamakailan lamang.
Si Villegas ay isang 6-foot-7 player na naglaro sa isang one-and-done season sa University of the East sa UAAP noong isang taon habang si Datu naman ay isang 6-foot-8 Fil-Am na nakitaan ng potential sa kanyang paglalaro sa PBA 3×3 Tournament.
Kaya naman hindi na nagpatumpik-tumpik ang Rain or Shine at binigyan kaagad sila ng tig-tatlong taong kontrata
Sa kanila rin sana mapupunta si Henry Galinato, isang 6-foot-6 player na naglaro sa University of the Philippines noong nakaraang season, pero nagdesisyon ang Rain or Shine na i-trade ito sa TNT para sa first round pick ng Tropang Giga sa Season 50.
“I’m excited to learn,” ang sabi ni Villegas. “I’m excited to learn from the coaches and the players.”
“My confidence is a little high that I’ll be selected early because I know on Draft Day, anything can happen. I’m forever grateful that I was drafted this high.”
Bagamat nagpapagaling pa sa ACL injury na kanyang tinamo noong nakaraangf UAAP season, hihihntayin ng Rain or Shine ang kanyang pagbabalik aksyon.
“We’re revving up our weight-training program. I’m starting to jump now, so that’s a good sign,” dagdag pa ni Villegas. “Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, we’ll begin jogging and running.”
“We’re ahead of the schedule and everything is looking good.”
Para naman kay Datu, inaabangan niya ang pagkakataong mas matututo pa sa gabay ng kanilang coach na si Yeng Guiao at beteranong si Beau Belga.
“I heard he really gets the most out of his players. I’m excited to see what it does like. I’ll just give my all every game. I’m excited to be here,” ani Datu bilang tugon kay Guiao.
“I attended the workouts with Rain or Shine prior to the Draft and I had a great time. I felt I got along with the players over there.”
Sa mga nakalipas na taon, panay mga guwardiya at mga wing men ang nadadampot ng Elasto Painters.
Si Raymond Almazan na kanilang third overall pick noong 2013, ang pinakamalaking player na kanilang nakuha.
Pero ito ang kaunaunahang pagkakataon na hindi lanbg isa kung hindi dalawang poste ang kanilang maidadagdag sa koponan.
“We’ve seen that this batch is really the best time in a long time stack up on big men,” ang sabi ni Guiao. “I haven’t seen the quality of big men like this batch in a long time and we know that’s the most challenging part for a team, to get quality big men.”
“We know that there were talents that might be picked in the first round at the No.3 and 4 spots, we prioritized talented big men. Even though Luis is injured, we’re willing to wait and confident that he can come back and we took the risk. Obviously, this is also a preparation for the future as our big men like Beau, Jewel (Ponferada) and Borb (Mark Borboran), they’re not getting any younger.”