'Nothing to lose': Guiao, Painters welcome underdog tag vs Beermen

MANILA, Philippines -- “The series is for them to lose.”

Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao is embracing the underdog status of the Elasto Painters as they face the mighty San Miguel Beermen in a best-of-seven semifinal matchup in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Guiao and thePainters held on and advanced to the semis after defeating the TNT Tropang Giga, 110-109, on Wednesday.

After downing last season’s runners-up, they will face the defending champions next.

Guiao, after the game, said that they are embracing the upcoming series as their “best learning experience.”

He underscored that regardless of the result, they already won.

“This seven game series, this is going to be our best learning experience, and we will be going up against San Miguel. Whatever happens, we are already the winners here,” he told reporters in Filipino.

“We have nothing to lose. We will just add to our experience,” he added.

The veteran mentor emphasized that the best way to develop their young team is to have experience, especially since it has been a few years since they qualified for the semifinals.

The team has only a handful of 30-year-olds in the roster.

These are Mac Belo, Gabe Norwood, Mark Borboran, Papot Paredes, Nick Demusis and Beau Belga.

The squad also has four rookies in the roster – Adrian Nocum, Sherwin Concepcion, Keith Datu and Luis Villegas, who is still injured.

“We’re playing as underdogs. And, we will be facing San Miguel, the best team in the conference, and I don’t think there’s any pressure on us as we play the seven game series,” he said.

“We will just play as hard as we can, that is what we will do… So, I think the series is for them to lose. But we will just be there, we will just hang around.”

Guiao also acknowledged the depth of the Beermen, adding they will be fighting tooth and nail even against overwhelming odds.

“San Miguel has three groups of first fives. No team could keep in step with San Miguel, even us. So we will just fight, look at where we can go. We do not have someone who can match up with June Mar [Fajardo], CJ [Perez] and Terrence [Romeo]. But we will make things difficult for them,” he said.

“If we win, we win. If we lose, we have to lose with our heads up after the game. We want San Miguel to feel all the pressure, because there is no pressure on our end. We are already winners in our mind.”