PBA: Norwood says Rain or Shine plans to use depth to stymie hot-shooting Mixers

The San Mig Super Coffee Mixers' offensive explosion in the fourth period of Game 7 against Barangay GInebra San Miguel was a sight to behold. Coming into Game 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals though, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters find themselves well-rested and ready to suffocate their foes on defense.

"[Justin] Melton's playing great, [Mark] Barocca's been consistent," said Rain or Shine's Gabe Norwood in an interview with GMA News Online. "We got a lot of guys. We got a lot of bodies. Paul [Lee], TY [Tang], Chris Tiu, myself, Jeric [Teng]. Hopefully, just like last year, we can get them tired and use our depth.

Norwood added that he has more teammates willing to take on the task of defending James Yap and PJ Simon, who torched Ginebra for a combined 58 points in Game 7:

"PJ and James, hopefully they calm down. We have good defenders in our team. Jireh [Ibanes], Ryan [Arana], we just have to focus. They're prolific scorers. We gotta play hard."

The Elasto Painters have enjoyed a week-long rest, while the Mixers had just a day to recuperate from their seven-game series.

"We're well rested for sure," Norwood said. "[We're] excited to be in the Finals again. Another good matchup. Last time we won a championship was against the same team. Hopefully, we have the same luck."

The Gilas standout expects a tough series against San Mig Coffee. The battle in the paint is a highly-anticipated match-up pitting Beau Belga, Jervy Cruz, Larry Rodriguez and JR Quinahan against Marc Pingris, Rafi Reavis, Ian Sangalang and Joe Devance.

"It's gonna be a battle," Norwood added. "Even in the regular season, those guys go hard at each other. I'm excited. Hopefully we get the better of it. It's gonna be a great matchup"

In the end, Norwood agrees that the Finals series may be a long one.

"It looks like it. We match up well with them," Norwood said. "Every game's back and forth. Anything can happen. We're a tough team. We play together. We stay together. We can win games even if the odds are against us." - AMD, GMA News