YENG GUIAO and Raymond Yu may have already ended their five-year fruitful partnership with Rain or Shine, but they still uphold the same philosophy of giving opportunity to players who were barely given a chance to prove their worth.
Now head coach and general manager of the NLEX Road Warriors, Mr. Guiao is still upholding the same wisdom in his new squad.
“I always do that,” Mr. Guiao told BusinessWorld. “In evey team I coach, I always wanted to develop players and turn them to good players.”
The six-time champion coach has a penchant in turning virtual unknowns to be recognized.
Jonathan Uyloan was a walk-in applicant, an undrafted player who continued to try out until Mr. Guiao gave him the opportunity after spending a few years on the reserve list.
Mr. Guiao also tapped the full potential of JR Quiñahan, who pushed himself to go the extra mile. The 6-foot-6 veteran slotman has been reunited with his old coach at the Road Warriors camp.
Then of course, Mr. Guiao was able to develop his own stars.
Jeff Chan was just an average player until Mr. Guiao came in and made him his star swingman at the Elasto Painters side. He had won two championships with the squad, got selected to play for Gilas Pilipinas for several years and became PBA Finals Most Valuable Player and many-time All-Star.
Beau Belga had also taken similar path. Once a journeyman, bouncing out from one team to another, Mr. Belga had earned a reputation of becoming the PBA’s modern day enforcer, who blossomed to become a star.
In NLEX, Mr. Guiao is doing similar things, trying to get the best out of marginal players like Raul Soyud, Juami Tiongson and Jansen Rios while also giving Rabeh Al-Hussaini a second chance.
“I think all coaches want to give players the chance, but not all is willing to take the risk. Are they willing to risk their career for these players? We have to remember that players win games, coaches lose them,” added Mr. Guiao.
Mr. Yu, the amiable owner of Rain or Shine’s basketball franchise, had continued his philosophy of giving opportunity to those players whose potential had yet to be tapped.
He sees Mark Borboran as a player who has great potential, but barely given a chance by his previous teams and that’s the reason why Rain or Shine agreed to part ways with Mr. Chan in exchange for the 6-foot-5 player from University of the East.
“If you look at Borboran, he’s a player who has yet to find his identity, yet the talent is there,” said Mr. Yu. “We’ve been trying to get him ever since, but we didn’t get much of a chance.”
For Mr. Yu, getting Mr. Borboran is worth taking the risk.
“He is a good player, but he doesn’t have the swagger,” added Mr. Yu. “But definitely, he is an asset to our team.”
“The question is, what is keeping him to performing better? I think Borboran has a lot to show. He’s just meek and that is his personality, but we’re willing to give him the opportunity of becoming a better player.”
True enough, the Elasto Painters had won back-to-back games since they traded Mr. Chan for Mr. Borboran as Rain or Shine found themselves back in contention for the playoffs. — Rey Joble
