Rain or Shine has been on a tear with its fast-paced play, leading to its franchise-best 5-0 start. In a conference where teams boast big and towering centers, the Elasto Painters' quickness emerged as a potent weapon of choice.

They were fearless and decisive.

But there have been questions whether the team can actually sustain the high-octane attack throughout the rest of the conference — more so whether they will have enough legs for a deep playoff run.

For coach Yeng Guiao, the answer was simple: They just have to continue running.

“We will try,” said the fiery mentor when asked whether the team can keep the same pace it had in their 116-112 victory over San Miguel for the rest of the conference.

“That’s how we identify ourselves kasi pagpasok mo ng laro wala kang June Mar (Fajardo), wala kang CJ (Perez). Di mo alam kung ano makukuha mo sa team. Di mo alam sino puputok. Pero ang alam namin pag pasok namin sa laro, may advantage kami sa pace. May advantage kami sa speed kahit sino pa kalaban namin,” he added.

And that speed was very much evident against SMB as ROS simply neutralized the Beermen’s size advantage by simply outrunning them. As a result, the Elasto Painters had 34 fastbreak points and 29 points off turnovers.

Without a superstar level talent like Fajardo, who a team can simply dump the ball inside or Perez, who can easily create for himself and his teammates, Guiao stressed that the strength of their team is on their system.

“We can play that pace in four quarters. Minsan yung mga gustong sumabay sa amin makakasabay ng dalawa tatlong quarter kaya pa rin namain masusutain yung speed,” said Guiao.

 “We come into the game we know what our advantage is and it is not individual talent. It’s our system. It’s our identity,” he added.