GUIAO SAYS ROS CONSIDERING MIRANDA AND CHUA. WHY NOT SLAUGHTER?

RAIN of Shine's smooth start to the PBA's 50th season suddenly hit rough waters after young big man Keith Datu's season was ended by a patellar tendon injury.

Suddenly, a ROS team that started its Philippine Cup campaign with five victories in its first six games struggled to keep up with an NLEX side that's far from intimidating on the way to a 105-91 defeat on Saturday night at the Ynares Center.

READ Rookie Manaytay set for ROS callup in wake of Datu injury 

Datu, of course, was integral to the Elasto Painters' early success, The 6-7 big man has been productive all six games he played, including  a 20-point, eight-rebound night against Blackwater in the team’s second game of the season.

Datu's injury also worsened an injury crisis that has seen ROS play without Caelan Tiongson, Stanley Pringle, and Luis Villegas. Veteran Beau Belga is also on a minutes restriction after an injury-plagued 2024-2025 season.

That has prompted Yeng Guiao and his staff to look for options to bolster a frontline that now relies mainly on Santi Santillan, Kris Porter, Belga and undersized forwards Jhonard Clarito and Mike Malonzo.

Rain or Shine's first option, of course, is elevating Christian Manaytay, who the Elasto Painters picked in the first round at No. 10 overall in the last rookie draft and is now available at the end of Nueva Ecija's season in the MPBL.

Manaytay is 6-foot-5 and was comfortable playing the 4 and 5 positions during his time with the UST Tigers in the UAAP.

But Guiao isn't stopping there, admitting he is also exploring other options.

The veteran coach admitted Rain or Shine is also looking at Mike Miranda and Justin Chua, who to their advantage had both played under Guiao during the latter's time as coach of the NLEX Road Warriors.

READ Unrestricted free agent Justin Chua awaits takers

Chua was recently relegated by Blackwater to its Unrestricted Free Agent with Rights to Salary (UFAWR2S) list while Miranda was moved by NLEX from its injured/ reserve list to its UFAWR2S list last October 21.

"Manaytay is the primary option," Guiao told SPIN.ph. "Miranda and Chua also being mentioned [in staff meetings)."

How about Greg Slaughter?   

The seven-footer has bared his intentions to return to the PBA after spending time in the Japan B.League and the MPBL, although talks with new team Titan - which holds his signing rights in the PBA - collapsed prior to the season.

Guiao said ROS is not looking at Slaughter at the moment, but insisted it has nothing to do with a rumored 'silent ban' on the former Ginebra star in the PBA which the outspoken coach denied any knowledge of.

"Wala naman," Guiao said. "As far as I know, my bosses Terry Que and Raymund Yu will not prevent me from acquiring him if we believe he can create significant impact."

So why not Slaughter?

Guiao said he believes Slaughter will not fit Rain or Shine's fast-paced game, saying, "he will not fit our system. He's not suited for the game we like to run."

2025-11-09T10:15:05Z