Manila, Philippines- Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia believes they now have the right ingredients to be able to compete for playoff spots in the coming PBA conference.

For one, Rain or Shine has acquired as its No. 5 pick Fil-Am wingman Josh Vanlandingham and No. 15 pick guard RJ Jazul (No. 15) two players Garcia thinks can supply the additional firepower to the team.

“So far the two rookies look promising,” Garcia said Thursday as Jazul and Vanlandingham recently signed separate three-year deals to play for the team owned by Terry Que and Raymund Yu.

Yu and Que are likewise hoping to finally make it to the Final Four of the all-Filipino conference.

“RJ and Josh are both good shooters, which we lacked in the past. I think both of them can contribute good things to the team. RJ is known to be

a scorer when he was in the amateurs so we hope he can help us there, while Josh is a good shooter so it can open the lanes for us,” he added.

At 6-foot-4, Vanlandingham, the great grandson of two-time Olympian, swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso, is expected to play backup to fellow Fil-Am Gabe Norwood.

Norwood and Sol Mercado form as the team’s heart and soul.

As for the 5-foot-10 Jazul, the one-time Smart-Gilas Pilipinas member is a huge addition to the team’s backcourt rotation that also includes Solomon and TY Tang.

Aside from the rookies, the Elasto Painters also got bigmen John Ferriols and Paolo Bugia from free agency, as well as forward Doug Kramer, who they obtained in a trade with Air21 for second-year guard Marcy Arellano.

In other league developments, reigning Fiesta Cup champion Alaska has signed former University of the East stalwart Elmer Espiritu the No. 4 pick in last Sunday’s Rookie Draft to a three-year contract approximately worth P8.7 million late Wednesday.

The Aces obtained the fourth overall selection in the Draft when they dealt 2004 Rookie of the Year winner Larry Fonacier to Talk ‘N Text.

San Miguel has re-signed back-up point guard Denok Miranda to a two-year deal on Thursday. The former FEU playmaker joined the Beermen last season (Fiesta Cup).