Gabe reveals Painters’ winning formula

MANILA, Philippines - It won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao is doing right in piloting the Elasto Painters to 10 straight wins in the PBA Philippine Cup. The key is equal opportunity and the evidence is each player is averaging in double figure minutes with nobody even logging at least 30 a game.

Gabe Norwood, the do-it-all Painter who was named Best Player in leading Rain Or Shine to a 103-94 come-from-behind victory over Petron in Game 2 of their best-of-7 semifinal series the other night, said Guiao’s philosophy brings out the best in everyone.

“I think we’ve all embraced our roles and bought into the attack-and-create mentality that coach Yeng has implemented,” Norwood told The Star. “We all know that we’re going to play so we make the most of our minutes and contribute to the best of our ability. Personally, I’m just doing what I’m capable of in the minutes provided, much like every player on the team.”

In Game 2, Petron was in control most of the way and entered the fourth period sitting on an 11-point cushion. Then, with about five minutes left, Rain Or Shine turned on the heat and reversed the tide. Norwood led the late surge with five points, four rebounds and four assists in eight minutes of the payoff quarter. The final 12 minutes saw the Painters collect more assists, 8-2, more turnover points, 8-2, more fastbreak points, 9-0, less turnovers, 1-4 and more three-pointers made, 4-1. Six Painters scored in that stretch compared to only three for Petron.

Norwood said “timing is everything” in explaining how Rain Or Shine outscored Petron, 36-16, in the fourth quarter. Rookie Raymond Almazan, playing tag team with Beau Belga, delivered 10 of his 15 points in the final push and Jeff Chan, nine of his 20. Belga chipped in six of his 11. Norwood ended with 11 points, six rebounds, six assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 23 minutes.

Five Petron players worked at least 30 minutes each compared to only one, Paul Lee, from Rain Or Shine. Guiao rotated 14 players and Blaze Boosters coach Gee Abanilla, 10.

In Game 1, Norwood also presided in the Painters’ attack, compiling seven points, six rebounds and five assists. In the series so far, the Gilas player known as Mr. President for his resemblance to US Chief Executive Barack Obama and leadership qualities has not been assessed a single turnover. Norwood, 28, was the first overall pick in the 2008 draft and is one of six veterans who’ve played their entire PBA career with the Raymund Yu-Terry Que franchise – the others are Jervy Cruz, Jireh Ibanes, Ryan Arana, Lee and T. Y. Tang.

“I’m really hard on Gabe every practice and every game,” said Guiao. “I know his potential so I demand he takes a leadership role with our team. He knows he’s going to be utilized in different ways because he can play all five positions and matches up well with either big or small players. He has the height, athleticism and quickness to create a mismatch. He just has to complement his playing ability with leadership and character to inspire his teammates. So far, he’s up to the challenge. A lot of people don’t appreciate what he does and only react when he scores a spectacular dunk. But he does so many positive things on the floor, he defends, rebounds, scores and passes. He’s improved on his outside shooting and his assist-to-turnover ratio. He hardly makes bad decisions. Gabe is a product of our investment. We’ve built our team for the long term. We’ve had tempting offers to trade Gabe, Jeff and Beau but we’re trying to solidify our chemistry. We want to keep our team together as much as possible with only minor changes. It takes time to jell together and we’re still a young team.”

Guiao’s most senior player is Ibanes who’s 31. Arana, Larry Rodriguez and Chan are 30 and the others are in their 20s with four players 24 and below.

“We basically add players only through the draft,” he said. “We can’t afford getting expensive players by trading. We’d rather get rookies with potential and we don’t pay them beyond the salary cap. That’s how we got talented players like Almazan, (Alex) Nuyles and (Jeric) Teng. We’re getting good value for money. I think our rookies are playing better than some veterans who are earning twice as much. It’s one way to save our resources.”

Guiao said he won’t hesitate to drive his players hard. “I shout at them, curse them but I do that only for them to get better, nothing personal,” he said. “I’ve always told the guys if they can’t take it, tell me right away so we can explore opportunities for them elsewhere. I don’t favor anyone. I don’t believe in superstar treatment. I treat everyone like the next guy. It looks like it’s working. I’m assuming the guys are happy with our system, our coaching staff and the way we do things.” The 10-game winning streak is proof that Guiao knows what he’s doing.