RAIN or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao believes import Deon Thompson is what the doctors ordered for the Elasto Painters.
The stocky big man, who recently played for the Ivory Coast national team, had an outstanding PBA debut of 21 points and 15 rebounds, while adding three assists, three steals, and two blocks as Rain or Shine chalked up its first win in the Commissioner’s Cup with a 99-81 rout of Hong Kong Eastern last Wednesday.
“We’re happy with the way he performed, he was late coming in. We had a change of import. So he hasn’t been here for a week,” said Guiao of his 6-foot-8 import, who came in to take the spot of Kenneth Kadji.
The 36-year-old Thompson failed to play in Rain or Shine’s first game for the new conference as his special work permit was not released on time, resulting to the team’s 121-111 loss to Meralco.
But then again, Guiao is not one to sulk on that, choosing to look ahead for Rain or Shine, which is bidding to improve on its semifinal finishes in the last two conferences.
“So he changes the chemistry for the better. The ball movement has improved a lot and he’s really good defensively,” Guiao said.
“He’s also giving us the rebounds that we needed. That’s (rebounding) what we lacked against Meralco.”
Guiao believes the inside game Thompson brings is what the team really needs.
“He’s got an inside game, he’s got an outside game. He just didn’t have a good shooting night in his first game, but when his real game comes out, he’ll post a big problem to other teams (in the future),” he said.
Thompson played for the Ivory Coast national squad in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Listed at 6-9, Thompson averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists during the group phase.
Before building his pro basketball career overseas, Thompson was part of the North Carolina Tar Heels under famed collegiate coach Roy Williams that ruled the 2009 NCAA men’s basketball title.
That Tar Heels squad had several future NBA players led by Danny Green, who would go on to win three NBA championships, along with Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson, Ed Davis and Tyler Hansbrough.
Thompson recently played for Korean ball club KCC Egis in the 2024 Basketball Champions League Asia, where he averaged 16.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist.
Rain or Shine and Thompson will be gunning for their second straight win on Tuesday when they play San Miguel Beer.
