7 hours Ago By N/A (Reynald I. Magallon)
Rain or Shine guard Anton Asistio is bracing for tough defensive assignments against the bigger guards of Converge in the quarterfinals but by any means, he’s not backing down to the challenge. Rain or Shine guard Anton Asistio is bracing for tough defensive assignments against the bigger guards of Converge in the quarterfinals but by any means, he’s not backing down to the challenge. The 5-foot-10 sharpshooting guard, in fact, is up to the task, knowing full well that bigger teams would always try to back him down to the post along with other ROS guards in Andrei Caracut and Adrian Nocum.
“Sa akin lang just to be tough. Mas malalaki sila na gwardya and si coach Yeng talagang china -challenge nya kami kasi the past few games talagang pinopostehan kaming mga gwardya,” said Asistio. Asistio and the rest of the Elasto Painters, who finished at the sixth spot, will be taking on the third seed Converge, which boasts a three-headed backcourt combo of Alec Stockton, Jordan Heading and Schonny Winston – all standing at least 6-foot-2.
During their elimination meeting which Converge won 103-96, the height advantage was one of the things they exploited against Rain or Shine. “I think the best thing to do as of now is to be tough,” he added. Offense-wise, there shouldn’t be any problem for Asistio, judging just by how he shot the lights out in ROS’ most important game so far in the conference.
Asistio was on target from deep, connecting on a career-high six triple to power the Elasto Painters to a 106-96 win that secured them the sixth seed and allowed them to avoid further complications to their playoff bid. “I’m just very happy na nanalo kami today at nakaiwas kami sa playoff for eighth spot and nandun kami sa best-of-three against Converge,” said Asistio whose four triples in the first half gave ROS a 57-44 lead at the half. TNT did make a huge comeback in the third quarter and cut the lead down to just one, 74-75, before Asistio, again, nailed timely triples to restore order for the Elasto Painters.
“I’m just happy with the way we competed, the way na lumaban kami kahit na nag run ‘yung TNT and yun at least nandun pa rin kami which is to make it to the finals, to the next round,” he added..
