Belga dismisses Ginebra victory over Rain or Shine as simply a lucky win

Beau Belga and the Painters were outplayed, but the wide-bodied forward says it was just luck on Ginebra's part. Nuki Sabio / PBA Images

THOUGH beaten off the boards and outhustled in the final period, Rain or Shine’s heavyweight big man Beau Belga believes “lady luck” smiled on Barangay Ginebra, which enabled the league’s most popular squad to score what was a resounding 97-84 victory on Sunday.

Belga blamed his team played terrible defense, particularly in the final period when Ginebra’s big men Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar made their moves inside.

But overall, he felt the Gin Kings were just lucky to have escaped their grasp.

“Malakas sila (Gin Kings) pero kami naman ang klase ng team na kahit sino makatapat namin mapapalaban kayo sa amin,” said Belga after emerging from an hour-long post-game talk at the dugout.

“Talagang nataon lang ang swerte ng Ginebra sa amin.”

Nonetheless, Belga said if the E-Painters intend to recover immediately, they will all have to be committed to play defense for 48 minutes.

“Pinapaintindi niya (coach Yeng Guiao) sa amin yung nangyari ngayon. It’s really a bad defensive game for us, kasi di mo masasabing lapses on defense. Puwede kami mag-off night sa offense, pero di mangyayaring mag offnight ka sa defense eh,” lamented the former Philippine Christian University center.

Belga felt if Rain or Shine only didn’t give up during the early goings of the final period after cutting a once-imposing 16-point spread to just two, the E-Painters would have pulled off the king-sized upset.

“Nagsuggest ako kanina, na i-analyze natin ang game ngayon kasi kung titingnan natin sa third quarter, humabol kami, naging dalawa na lang lamang, eh kasi style ng laro namin ang ginawa namin.  Takbuhan, yung nagpapasahan kami, yun lang, alam naman nila resulta eh, so yun lang gusto ko ma-realize nila,” explained Belga.

The loss was Rain or Shine’s first, dropping the Asian Coating franchise to solo second spot with its 2-1 record.

The E-Painters return to action on December 1 when they play the Barako Bull Energy Cola.