I guess it's hard to be a rebel when you're in a big-market squad?
Yeng Guiao is kind of anti-big business in the PBA sense and I guess he couldn't do it in Rain or Shine.
Meanwhile, NLEX is like, if we have a major backer, then why are we picking the players that tailor fit to Yeng Guiao's liking?
It all makes sense for Guiao to return to the team that carried his mantra. When you have money, it's hard to justify elevating hard-nosed players over college attractions.
I am not taking a knock on these players but when the SMC teams were trying to pursue the services of CJ Perez, Guiao was eyeing Don Trollano. On paper, this is in some ways a disadvantage to NLEX because Perez is more marketable than the blue-collar Adamson Soaring Falcon. But for Guiao, Trollano is a goldmine - a player he could curse at will but his mind is sound enough to feed on the harsh criticism.
Before Guiao entered NLEX, Asi Taulava had a Mythical Second Team. Given his age, Asi should have retired at that point. Despite Asi doubling his efforts to stay in the thick of things, Guiao chose Raul Soyud over The Rock. Again, I get the rationale of picking the overachievers but again, if you have the goods, then why settle on Soyud?
Through the years, we have seen Yeng Guiao choose talents he created from established college stars and superstars. Again, there is no problem here. It's like choosing homemade food over processed food. The only problem with this though is that if a developed star has had enough playing for a small-market team, then can his talent be enough the same talent in the big-market squad?
The one-for-one trade that happened a few years back when James Yap was traded for Paul Lee was good on paper but bad in the grand scheme of things. In the last three conferences, Yap has only appeared in 18 games and has yet to see action in 2022. Meanwhile, continues to be at the top of his game with a couple of missed games due to injuries. Again, you can't fault the teams for swapping players because, at that time, it was a fair trade. However, Yap is not a Guiao-made player and unfortunately is on the verge of retirement.
It also didn't help that Guiao will return to the team with Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga as his prized stars. I get why Belga is still there but I really thought Norwood could have moved to another team that would maximize his talents. I mean, before Guiao, Norwood, Solomon Mercado, and Jay-R Reyes were all averaging in double digits for the team.
But at least he's going to have a somewhat fresh start. I think he'll enjoy some of the scrappy Ateneo and DLSU stars there like overachievers Santi Santillan, Mike Nieto, Gian Mamuyac, Anton Asistio, and Andrei Caracut. Back in the day, he had Ryan Arana, TY Tang, and Chris Tiu so his blue-collar goodness also works on the sosy schools. The only problem I guess is that if they see Guiao's method of teaching as emotional torture. Greg Slaughter had a notable breakdown and we haven't Carlo Lastimosa in the PBA since his stint in NLEX. We have seen Guiao make and break careers if he sees a player as nothing more than an image model. Also, they really need to pad height on this team. I don't know which players are available, but it's probably going to cost Rain or Shine Rey Nambatac.
So yeah, Guiao has the ability to make a ragtag core great.
Hopefully, he enjoys his second Rain or Shine stint.