Rain or Shine coach Chris Gavina wants his players to be locked and loaded when the 2021 PBA Philippines Cup resumes this September in Bacolor, Pampanga.
That includes two-time MVP James Yap who may very well get the green light to play after rejoining the Elasto Painters as they left Manila Monday morning and arrived in Angeles City. There, they will be staying at Villa Adela for the duration of the conference's semi-bubble setup.
"We'll assess him fully these next few days of practice and see how he reacts to daily full-contact practice and we'll go from there in regards to his playing time," detailed Gavina to ESPN5.
The 16-time All-Star has missed Rain or Shine's first six games after undergoing knee procedure earlier in the year. Despite now being an elder statesman at 39, he is still capable of providing quality minutes off the bench after averaging decent numbers of 7.2 points and 2.1 rebounds last year.
Along with giving more time for Yap to heal, Gavina said the temporary stoppage of games gave he and his team a chance to assess how they have performed thus far.
Rain or Shine actually got off to a hot 3-0 start under their first-year coach before suffering a humiliating 26-point beating at the hands of Alaska last July 28. That sorry loss saw them score just 48 points, the second-lowest total in league history.
The Elasto Painters then fell for the second straight time against TNT until bouncing back with a come-from-behind 83-77 win over Terrafirma.
"For us, after our two losses, we reviewed what worked for us in our first three wins and that's what we stressed before getting back on the winning track against Terrafirma," explained their youthful mentor. "Everyone is ecstatic at being able to get back on the court and resuming our conference."
As the team resumes practice Tuesday either at Colegio de Sebastian in San Fernando or Beverly Place in Mexico, Gavina simply wants his players to cultivate the right habits.
"I'll be reminding our team from the very first day of practice about making sure our habits match our goals," he said. "Our daily habits have to match our goal of being the last team standing. That will take a great deal of accountability towards meeting the high standards we've established every single day."
As youngsters Rey Nambatac and Javee Mocon have led Rain or Shine in scoring in their first six games with 12.8 and 11.8 points, respectively, the shot-caller is expecting a lot more from his veterans led by Beau Belga, Gabe Norwood, Mark Borboran, and Jewel Ponferada when action resumes.
"There's no secret to us, play our brand of defense then push the ball up the floor and attack and look for the shots we're looking for in our shot spectrum," added the 42-year-old Fil-American coach.