Rain or Shine import mum about 'unfriendly' talk with GlobalPort counterpart

MANILA, Philippines – In a game that featured bloodied mouths, a scuffle, two ejections, and four technical fouls, imports Malcolm White and Reggie Johnson threatened to add another incident to the lowlight reel.

Rain or Shine's 96-90 triumph over GlobalPort on Sunday saw Chris Tiu got bloodied by an inadvertent elbow from White, as well as a near skirmish that led to Kelly Nabong and Maverick Ahanmisi getting thrown out.

The ill-tempered nature of the game stretched all the way to the final buzzer, with the two imports seen repeatedly jawing with each other in the closing minutes of the contest.

The burly Johnson, who had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Rain or Shine, declined to go into specifics about his discussion with White, but the import admitted that it was far from a friendly chat.

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"It was an intense conversation," said Johnson. "I feel like Malcolm is a wild player."

"I'm gonna leave it on the court, I don't wanna bring it to the media, what was going back and forth. But it wasn't a friendly conversation, you know. I'm gonna leave it at that," he added.

Johnson, who also said this is the first time he has ever played against White, does feel that he got the last laugh against the GlobalPort reinforcement.

"We got the win, so I definitely got the better of him," said Johnson.

White scored more than Johnson, with 21 points, but he also struggled with foul trouble and committed six of the Batang Pier's 19 turnovers in the game.

His encounters with White aside, Johnson said he had no issue with the physical nature of the game. Indeed, it was exactly what he expected when he signed with the Elasto Painters after a stint in the ASEAN Basketball League.

"That was definitely what I expected when I got to the Philippines," said Johnson. "It's good to be on the winning side of that. There was a lot of talking and tripping going on, aggressiveness.

"But I'm an aggressive guy by nature, you know, so we can play finesse, and we can play aggressive. I think we did a good job tonight of responding," he added.

The import was proud of the Elasto Painters' composure, even as he stressed that they wanted to win the game for Tiu and Ahanmisi.

"I told (Chris), I said, 'we gon' win this game for you, don't worry about it, I got your back.' I told Mav the same thing when they took Mav out. I said, 'we gon' win this game for you.' That's the best reward you can get, winning the game," said Johnson.

"We did a good job of staying calm, cool, and collected," he also said.

The win put Rain or Shine's import at 5-1 heading into the All-Star break. They currently hold the top spot in the league standings.

"We're No. 1 right now," said Johnson. "We're excited, but we still got more work to do."

In contrast, the Batang Pier slid to 3-3 with Sunday night's result. However, Johnson is not counting out a potential rematch with White and GlobalPort down the line.

"If we see those guys in the playoffs, that would be an exciting match-up, something I would look forward to. But you know, we gotta handle our business to make the playoffs," said the import.

"So who knows what the future holds? If we see them, I'm sure it's gonna be great for the fans and they'll wanna come out and watch that."

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