Rain or Shine is set to activate Christian Manaytay just in time amid Keith Datu's long layoff. PBA Images (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Keith Datu's absence was dearly missed on Saturday night when NLEX pummeled Rain Or Shine on the inside to ignite a 105-91 win at the Ynares Center 1 in Antipolo.

With Datu, arguably the Elasto Painters' main rim protector, out after suffering a knee injury in their last game, the Road Warriors had a field day inside the paint, outscoring the E-Painters, 56-34.

"We shot really poorly from the two-point area. We couldn't get any rhythm going, so medyo kanya-kanyang araw siguro yan. Hindi namin araw today. Araw ng NLEX," coach Yeng Guiao said, emphasizing that ROS only hit 35.3 percent from inside the three-point arc.

Although 5-2 is "still a good record" for Guiao, he also took note that the team's last four games in the PBA Philippine Cup are all tough opponents: TNT, Converge, Magnolia, and Ginebra.

What is going to make it tougher for the Elasto Painters is that, aside from Datu, they are also dealing with injuries to Caelan Tiongson and Stanley Pringle.

A game-time decision entering Saturday, they decided to keep Tiongson sidelined to hasten his full recovery from a hamstring injury.

While they are not rushing Tiongson and Pringle's recovery for now--although Guiao said that they can activate them for next Saturday's battle against the Tropang 5G in Cagayan De Oro if they feel they are good to go--the focus is on finding someone to fill the void left by Datu, who is set for surgery to repair his ruptured patellar tendon that would keep him out for the rest of the season.

"We're looking at filling up the slot of Keith Datu by [this] week. We're still looking at our options. Wala pang final decision on how we will fill it up," Guiao further said.

"We will figure it out early this week, Monday or Tuesday, para maihanda namin for the Saturday game in CDO."

When further asked, he said that a future trade and a solid free agency pick-up are possible options, but also waiting in the wings is first-round pick Christian Manaytay.

"That's an option, pero the other option is to sign yung first-round draft pick namin," Guiao further said.

Manaytay, a six-foot-five high-flying big man, can now be signed into the PBA as Nueva Ecija, despite being the second seed in the North Division, was shockingly eliminated by Pangasinan in the first round of the MPBL Playoffs.

ROS will fly for Cagayan De Oro on Friday ahead of the clash with TNT the night after at the Aquilino Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center.