For veteran coach Yeng Guiao, experience remains the best teacher.
And last Wednesday’s game between by his Rain or Shine and the all-time PBA winningest squad San Miguel Beer provided an avenue for him to teach his young players the lesson of poise and composure.
Leading by as many as 25 points in the second half, Rain or Shine was stymied when San Miguel mounted a massive rally behind Marcio Lassiter’s flurry of three-point bombs.
The huge lead evaporated in the early part of the fourth period as the Beermen closed in to within two points, 97-99.
Typically, coaches would have called a series of timeouts to put a sense of order to the beleaguered team. But not Guiao, who only used one timeout during the Beermen’s scary 24-4 rally after trailing at 73-95.
“I was just trusting the guys. I was just thinking, you are testing their ability to read situations. You just have to gamble instead of spoonfeeding them every time,” said Guiao after the game.
“I did call a timeout when we were still up I think by 17 but in the end, I just let them play and told them, it’s all up to you,” he said in his customary tough-talking voice.
True enough, Adrian Nocum, one of Guiao’s upcoming young stars, rose to the occasion, hitting 10 of his 21 points in the final period, while hulking Jaylen Johnson, Jhon Clarito and Frank Lemetti provided key baskets as well down the stretch to hold off San Miguel’s massive rally.
“Coach really tested us,” Nocum said in the post-game interview.
“In the end game, you can really see he doesn’t call a timeout. But my teammates, you can see from them they remained composed. They didn’t give up that’s why we got the win.”
Guiao admitted that in playing the Beermen, there’s no room for complacency.
“You really can’t relax against San Miguel,” said Guiao, whose team is out to stretch its franchise-best start to six wins come Friday when it battles Converge at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Rain or Shine seemed determined to win a PBA championship for the first time since the 2016 Governors’ Cup.