"When I look at the standings, I ask myself, totoo kaya ito," said Guiao. "Its like a dream. This is way above my expectations. In a sense, its a scary feeling. But at the same time, Im not afraid of the bubble bursting. If the conference ends today, well be happy with what weve achieved. My goals for this year our first in the PBA were to try to fit the guys to their roles and gain experience so we can be competitive next season. But now that were in the thick of the fight, well try to make the most of it. Do we feel the pressure? Not really because nobody expected us to be a contender in the first place. Remember, were a young team with a lot of inexperienced players and rookies."
Guiao, 41, pointed to team owner George Chua for inspiring the Thunder to overachieve. "Mr. Chua told us to play our hearts out and have fun," continued Guiao. "We took the cue from management. Of course, tuwang-tuwa ang management just for the company to be in the PBA. Its like Welcoat theyre hoping to join the PBA, too, because playing in the pros is an achievement in itself. We owe it to Mr. Chua for giving us the opportunity to play."
Although Red Bull boasts a 6-1 record and has clinched a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, Guiao said its no guarantee of smooth sailing into the semis. "A twice-to-beat advantage means nothing if youre playing a team like San Miguel Beer or Alaska or Tanduay," he noted. "You cant think past the experienced teams that are capable of beating you twice in a row. The championship? Were not even thinking about it and for sure, theres no team out there thinking of the Finals yet. Were not even thinking of the semifinals.
Defining the roles of each player was something that Guiao prioritized in laying the groundwork for the teams future.
"When youve got such a young team like ours, its important to define roles, both offensively and defensively kung di, magkakagulo sa loob," explained Guiao. "The first thing I told the guys was all of them cant be top scorers. Were lucky that guys like Ato (Agustin), Edmund (Reyes), and Glenn (Capacio) found their roles early. Von (Harp) and Mick (Pennisi) knew what they had to do play defense, rebound, intimidate, and shoot when theyre open. Jimwell (Torion) is still looking for his spot on the team and I think hes finding it. We want him to score and pass. I expect him to score in double figures and get six to seven assists a game. But I told him hes not expected to score in the 20s because hell take the offense away from the others. Weve got stoppers in Edmund and Glenn, scorers in Ato and Jimwell, and rebounders in Von and Mick. Then, weve got guys coming off the bench like Junthy (Valenzuela), Cris (Bolado) and Lordy (Tugade)."
More than anything, Guiao said defense has carried Red Bull to its surprising start. "Defense is making things happen for us," he stressed.
Not only did Capacio contain Duremdes, he also contributed 13 points, 11 in the third period.
"I wasnt surprised that Glenn exploded ," said Guiao. "You give him a good look and hell score. He comes to practice an hour early for his shooting drills. He works hard on his shooting. If he makes his first or second shot and gets his confidence, hell be difficult to stop. Against Alaska, we anticipated the defense would collapse at the post and on the penetration so Glenn got open for kickouts."
More on Red Bull in tomorrows column.