HIS3: Texters win rare 3-peat

Norman Black steers "new" Texters
to 1st title under Black Magic Era

Congratulations to the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters for winning the PBA Philippine Cup and pulling off a rare 3-peat to take home the coveted Jun Bernardino Perpetual Trophy via a 4-0 sweep!

It was an amazing, lopsided affair right from the get go as the Rain or Shine Elastopainters never got into any form of rhythm owing to the Texters' intensity and focus. Before anything else though, our hats off to the Elastopainters for putting up a tough fight despite the clear disparity in talent and roster. The Yeng Guiao coached team tried their darndest, spreading the ball, looking for the open guy and playing defense the right (and surprisingly honest/ clean) way but unfortunately for them they just ran right smack into a team that, thanks to all the rough-housing care of up-and-coming Alaska, decided to get back into work and focus at the task at hand.

Kumbaga, ung isa ang gamit sa pagkabit ng poster thumbtacks. Ung isa, gun tacker.


Seriously, the Texters were just too damn good on all fronts that all they really needed to do was run a pick and roll for any one of the five guys on the floor (usually involving a combination of Finals MVP Ranidel de Ocampo, Best Player of the Conference Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag and Larry Fonacier) and it would just throw the whole Elastopainters' defense in the toilet. Any time the Elastopainters were forced out of their defensive positions to help out, all the Texters did was either beat them to the hoop or make a quick reverse pass that would result into another pass for the easy bucket.

And if that wasn't enough, there's always the high voltage Jared Dillinger who has never looked to be this comfortable in a Texters' jersey (the one thing that former head coach Chot Reyes can't really lay claim on since he gives Dillinger the "Yeng Guiao treatment"- isang araw starter, go-to-guy the next 8th man off the bench). On the defensive end, "rookie" head coach Norman Black worked his "Black Magic" and brought his whole Ateneo defensive playbook and schemes to the pros.

Not only did they trap scoring ball-handlers Paul Lee and Jeffrei Chan, but they also made sure to make the fastbreak-stopping fouls and timely violations if it meant putting a crease on any and all of the Elastopainters' runs or attacks.

Just ugly yet smart basketball. They're like the Floyd Mayweather of the PBA. You can't really appreciate it-- the way they stop the flow of the game with those type of plays, but you can't hate them for it either since it's all in the rulebook.

And in the rare occasions that the Elastopainters are able to make stops and force the Texters into making mistakes?

Well, they kept taking Jimmy "cold blooded, bad mofo" Alapag threes right into the heart.

Coach Chot Reyes might have played a big hand in developing this workhorse, "classy" culture and "family" of the Texters, but Coach Norman has transformed the team into something more-- something scarier.

Let this sweep serve as notice.