Joined 2006
History Welcoat Dragons
2006-2008
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
2008-Present
Team colors Blue, Yellow, Orange, and White
Owner(s) Raymond Yu and Terry Que
Company Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc.
Head coach Philippines Caloy Garcia
Championships PBL: 6 (1999 1st Challenge Cup, 1999 2nd Challenge Cup, 2000 Chairman's Cup, 2001 Chairman's Cup, 2002 Challenge Cup, 2005 Unity Cup)
PBA: 0
History
[edit] Philippine Basketball League
Welcoat became a member of the Philippine Basketball League during the mid 90s, where PBA legend Samboy Lim suited up for the team, minus his traditional high socks. Their first championship came in the 1999 Challenge Cup, winning 3-0 over Red Bull Energy Drink.
Welcoat was considered as one of the two teams to enter the PBA before the 2000 season but lost out to Red Bull.
Since then, the Paint Masters won five more championships, fielding in the best amateur and former Metropolitan Basketball Association players available, most notably Don Allado, Renren Ritualo, Yancy de Ocampo, Rommel Adducul, Ronald Tubid, James Yap, Paul Artadi, and Anthony Washington.
One of their biggest rivals from 2000-2002 was Shark Energy Drink, with PBA players Chester Tolomia (later joined Welcoat in 2004), Roger Yap, and later Rain or Shine member Gilbert Malabanan, as both teams engaged in four straight finals series, splitting both series in the process.
In 2005, Welcoat changed its name to Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, one of the products of their parent company, Welbest. The Elasto Painters made it all the way to the finals of the Heroes Cup against Magnolia. After leading the series 2-0, Rain or Shine suffered one of the biggest collapses in league history as the Wizards won the series in five games.
In the 2006 PBL Unity Cup, the Elasto Painters were swept in the semifinals by the Toyota-Otis Sparks to end their four consecutive finals appearance, but placed third in a one-game playoff against Montaña Pawnshop on June 8.
Prior to the start of Game 3 of the Unity Cup title series between Harbour Centre and Toyota-Otis on June 13, 2006, the league awarded the team with the Dynasty Award for their 10 years of success in the league. Several past and present members of the Welcoat franchise were on hand, as they brought their six championship trophies during the ceremony
Philippine Basketball Association
Welcoat Dragons
Welcoat Dragons logo.png
Uniforms
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Light uniform jersey
Team colours
Light uniform
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Dark uniform jersey
Team colours
Dark uniform
[edit] Acquisition of the Shell franchise
After Shell's departure in 2005, the league gave Shell an ultimatum of until early 2006 to either announce their return to the league for the 06-07 season, or to sell the franchise to a prospective buyer.
In several press releases and interview, then-PBA Commissioner Noli Eala mentioned that some companies were interested in joining the league, although he did not stress which of these companies were. One of Eala's vision was for the PBA to be a 12-team league. Welcoat suddenly came into the picture, expressing interest to buy the Shell franchise.
By January 2006, major newspapers reported that the Welcoat team is nearing the completion of acquiring the Shell team. By February, the PBA announced the entry of Welcoat as the 10th PBA team for the 2006-2007 season.
People's Journal said that the turnover was approved between P30-40 million, a big drop from the original P60 million the Turbo Chargers wanted [1] The Manila Times, however, reported that it was close to P55 million that Shell wanted [2]
Welcoat put out P60 million as bond for five years, P7 million for participation fee and another P6 million for transfer fee.
[edit] Pre-PBA preparations
As incentive, the PBA allowed Welcoat to grab three amateur players from their Rain or Shine PBL team. The Paint Masters named Jay-R Reyes, Junjun Cabatu, and NCAA Most Valuable Player Jay Sagad as the three players from the core of its amateur team which they elevated into the pros directly.
Welcoat also signed PBL veterans Niño Gelig, undrafted point guard Froilan Baguion, Jercules Tangkay, and former Shell players Adonis Sta. Maria and Rob Wainwright. In the dispersal draft, Welcoat took Gilbert Lao from Coca-Cola and Denver Lopez from San Miguel.
In August 2006, Welcoat announced that they will be named as the Welcoat Dragons in their pro stint while also grabbing former UP Fighting Maroons players Abby Santos and Jireh Ibañes as the team's new rookies, although Santos failed to sign with the team.
[edit] Welcoat Dragons
In their PBA debut, Welcoat lost to eventual champion Barangay Ginebra Kings in the season-opening game of the 2006-07 PBA season, 102-69. Jojo Tangkay scored the team's first-ever basket in the league. Denver Lopez led the team with 12 points while rookie Jay-R Reyes had 10 for the Dragons.
The Dragons won their first victory in franchise history on October 9 defeating Coca-Cola. Their next two victories came at the hands of the San Miguel Beermen and the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals. Despite a 3-5 record, Welcoat lost their next 10 games along with injuries to key players that eventually ended their campaign with a 3-15 record, the only team to be eliminated after the elimination round of the 2006-07 PBA Philippine Cup.
During the 2007 PBA Fiesta Conference, the Dragons had two active imports, Wayland White and assistant coach Alex Compton. The other imports, Charles Clark and Rob Sanders, preceded White. The Dragons were again the first team to be eliminated in the Fiesta Conference by the hands of the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants.
The Dragons finished with a 7-29 record for the 2006-07 PBA season and was awarded the first overall draft pick after they won the draft lottery. They eventually selected Joe Devance of University of Texas at El Paso.
Before the start of the 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference, Leo Austria resigned as head coach of the Dragons citing that the management wanted a new direction[1]. Then-assistant coach Caloy Garcia was named interim head coach on March 18 and would eventually become the team's official head coach.[2] The Dragons finished with another 7-29 record and failed to qualify again for the playoffs in either of the two conferences.
[edit] Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
In 2008, a new name was introduced for the team – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. At the 2008 PBA Draft held at Market! Market!, Taguig, the team drafted Gabe Norwood of George Mason University as the first overall pick. In the 2nd round, the Elasto Painters grabbed point guard Tyrone Tang of De La Salle University. 24 hours after the draft proper, the team traded 2007 first overall pick Joe Devance and their 2009 and 2010 second round picks to the Alaska Aces in exchange for Alaska's 2009 1st round pick, number five overall Solomon Mercado, and veteran Eddie Laure.
They defeated Air21 on their first game of the 2008-2009 Philippine Cup, 120-102 to spark a surprise showing at the 2008-09 PBA Philippine Cup. The Elasto Painters were aiming for a semifinal berth when they were defeated by the eventual champions Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in the elimination round. With a record of 10-8, they faced the defending champions Sta. Lucia Realtors in the quarterfinals where they were swept 2-0 in the best-of-3 series, with Norwood and Mercado being ejected in Game 1. Their 10-win record surpassed their best performance in a season
