No bitterness for James Yap after loss: ‘It’s Rain or Shine’s time to win title’

AKTV/Paolo Papa

There was no hint of bitterness or frustration in James Yap’s face shortly after his B-MEG Llamados lost the 2012 Governors’ Cup to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

“Panahon na nila para mag-champion,” said Yap, who averaged better than 24 points in the last three games of the series in a losing effort. He spent several minutes congratulating various members of the Rain or Shine franchise after Game Seven Sunday night. Before joining the PBA, Yap had a Philippine Basketball League stint with Welcoat, which is owned by the same company that owns Rain or Shine.

Elasto Painters owner Raymond Yu said that winning the title was a dream come true for the underdog squad.

“We dared to dream and now we have accomplished our dream of winning a PBA championship,” said Yu moments after his team’s win. He said even people who were close to him had a hard time believing the Elasto Painters could pull it off.

“We have this Sunday basketball group and a lot of my friends were telling me that we will have a difficult time winning the championship given the experience and the firepower of B-MEG. But we were confident we will win. I visited our practice on Saturday and I saw on the eyes of the players their desire of winning the championship.”

Like Yap, Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao said it was all a matter of timing.

“The timing is perfect. The entry of the players that we need and the structure built for this team was right for us to succeed this season,” said Guiao.

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