Norwood, Mercado Painters' plus factors

Their numbers are merely average by standards.

But they helped transform Rain or Shine from a mere pretender to a real contender in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

Since Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado came on board, the Elasto Painters’ fortunes have turned for the better, becoming the team to watch in a closely fought tournament.

Entering the playoffs of the All-Filipino conference, Rain or Shine has already surpassed what it had accomplished the past two seasons combined.

Not only is the team making its first playoff stint, but also it qualified outright to the quarterfinal phase where it sets to meet defending champion Sta. Lucia.

The Elasto Painters actually had a shot at a record first-ever outright semifinals appearance, but fell short of its bid when they lost to the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the final game of the eliminations on Christmas Day, 63-58.

Overall, Rain or Shine finished tied with Sta. Lucia and Ginebra for third place overall with a 10-8 card. The number of wins is the most by the Elasto Painters in a conference, even doubling their best finish ever of 4-14 record they registered twice in the last two Fiesta Conferences.

In all, the Asian Coatings Philippines had a total of 14-58 mark in the four conferences it saw action.

Individually, neither Norwood, the top pick, nor Mercado, acquired in a trade, is showing the way offensively for Rain or Shine as they averaged 11.6 and 13.1 points, respectively, deferring the scoring chores more on big man Jay-R Reyes (14.6 ppg).

But it’s the energy, youth and the desire to win which they bring to the team that has made Rain or Shine a title contender.

“He can shoot from the outside, penetrate inside on isolation plays, and he can even post up smaller defenders,” said PBA sports analyst Jason Webb of the 6-foot-5 Norwood.     

The former George Mason U stalwart also normed 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals.

Mercado, on the other hand, averaged 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

“His court smarts is amazing for a rookie. He has a quick step that leaves his defenders flatfooted and is not afraid to take big shots at crunch time,” Webb said of the stocky Fil-Am guard out of Biola University who was picked third overall by Alaska in the Draft.

While he does give major credit to his two foreign-bred players as responsible for the team’s major turnaround this season, coach Caloy Garcia insists the Elasto Painters’ success is a product of their collective efforts.

“What we’ve achieved is a by-product of team effort. Everybody was determined to win and that makes the difference,” he said.

Now that Rain or Shine has reached this deep stage of the playoffs, Garcia plans to enjoy the run and just keep on going.

“Hopefully, it would not stop there. There are more games to be won so we just have to stay focused,” he said.

With Mercado and Norwood around, that’s a feat not impossible to achieve.