At A Glance
- Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao is pleased with the improvements Luis Villegas is showing now that he's being given enough minutes to prove his worth following his recovery from injury.
Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao is pleased with the improvements Luis Villegas is showing now that he’s being given enough minutes to prove his worth following his recovery from injury.
Villegas stepped up big time for the Elasto Painters in their 112-109 victory over the TNT Tropang 5G especially during the final stretch in the final frame when ROS had to play without import Jaylen Johnson, who was ejected following his altercation with Glenn Khobuntin.
The 6-foot-7 center fired eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III, it was also the first time that Villegas scored in double figures in the 10 games he has played through his three seasons in the league.
“Paganda na ng paganda yung laro ni Luis. We are increasing his minutes and he is justifying those minutes. He is earning those minutes,” said Guiao, who believes Villegas has more to offer for the team.
It can be recalled that Rain or Shine picked Villegas third overall in the Season 48 rookie draft in 2023 but the team had to wait for a year as he was still recovering from an ACL injury.
He made his debut in October 2024 but still had some issues on his knee that needed repair and went under the knife once more in December the same year.
He was activated back to the lineup in December 2025 and is finally getting minutes after Keith Datu was also sidelined with a knee injury.
“Actually, nababagalan pa ako sa kanya pwede pa siyang mas mabilis kapag nakuha na niya talaga yung fitness niya,” said Guiao.
“Maybe he still, may kaunting pag iingat pa sa tuhod niya. Maybe psychological na lang yun pero when he passes that stage he’ll be a lot better,” he added.