Patience is a virtue.

Fiery mentor Yeng Guiao has preached this line ever since he returned to Rain or Shine and was tasked to rebuild the team.

While there were some stretches of defeats and frustrations during the process, the team is finally starting to take its form as the Elasto Painters booked a spot to the playoffs for the third time in the last four conferences since Guiao’s return.

Two of those runs even saw Rain or Shine battle back from slow starts to catch the quarterfinals: A 0-5 start in the Commissioner’s Cup to finish with a 6-5 slate at seventh and another 0-4 start to also finish with a 6-5 record in the Philippine Cup.

Through those stretches, Guiao’s faith in his young charges never wavered.

“Hindi naman ako nawalan ng pag-asa. Pero talagang sometimes, mafu-frustrate ka. Nakikita mo yung potential ng team pero hindi nagta-translate sa mismong laro,” said Guiao.

“Pero ang gaganda ng mga practices namin. Wala kang masabi sa ugali ng mga players, lahat naman sila mabait, masipag. So inaasahan ko na magta-translate yun sa games,” he added.

Even though the team qualified to the playoffs in the past conferences, it never placed higher than the seventh seed – a position that ROS could very well surpass this conference as it is now assured of at least a fifth place finish.

It also gives the team an even better chance at advancing to the semifinals as it plays a best-of-three affair as compared to its recent playoff run where it fell to a twice-to-win disadvantage against league-leading teams.

Looking back, Guiao said he held on to what he’s been preaching from the very start.

“Patience lang kailangan,” he stressed.

“Ngayon nagbubunga na eh. Noong una siguro, baka hindi pa napapanahon. Last conference, 0-5 kami tsaka kami nakabawi. Ngayon naman 0-4, tsaka kami nakabawi. So ibig sabihin nag-i-improve na kami kahit kaunti,” he added.

More than the improvement in the records, the young guns of ROS are also now blossoming into legitimate stars with guys like Andrei Caracut and Santi Santillan flourishing to their bigger roles while veteran Beau Belga is relishing a second wind to his career this conference.