Stronger, better, faster

Jared's O trumped Gabe's D in Game 1

There’s a school of thought that dictates this to be “just another PBA Philippine Cup Finals” and that we’re simply looking at two teams who just so happen to have won over the rest of the field. That there’s nothing remarkably earth-shattering or historic about this series other than one of the combatants, the Talk ‘n’ Text Tropang Texters, wanting to take home the beautiful Jun Bernardino Perpetual trophy.

If you just nodded your head in agreement, dumbfounded with the point that we’re trying to make and left scratching your head asking “what else are we missing?” then we have this say this to you with all distaste:

Shame on you!


As mentioned in an earlier post, this is a battle not just for Philippine basketball supremacy but for the disciplines that have long molded the sport. This is the Texters’ “new school” versus  the Rain or Shine Elastopainters’ “old school.” This is a modern day clash of the “ideal” Filipino Jose Rizal and the “brazen yet faulty” Andres Bonifacio. This is science versus heart; intense training versus “doing enough.” We’re not going to say that the Elastopainters don’t train as hard as the Texters, but there’s a reason why Ali Peek and Harvey Carey learned to shoot jumpers over the years and can run the floor and look fit as hell while the pair of Beau Belga and JayR Quinahan have probably never stayed on a threadmill for more than an hour (we’re RoS fans, but it doesn’t take a gymrat to know who takes extra time at the gym and who doesn’t).

In last night’s sleeper of a Game 1, the Texters’ arsenal was on full display. Credit goes to their end game poise yes, but even before that, Coach Norman Black had his guys playing their game and dictating the tempo all throughout. They ran in the first, slowed it down in the second. The Elastopainters’ only got back because of a lucky Chris Tiu five-point swing late in the third and later on a run of makeable shots for their team and the Texters’ sleep-walking to the finish line.

What else is there to say about Game 1 except that both teams almost play similar “share the ball, spread the floor” styles (with the Elastopainters’ being more freelance on offense)? The only difference truly being in firepower, the Texters have players such as Larry Fonacier (9 points), Ranidel de Ocampo (16), Jayson Castro (16), Jimmy Alapag (9) and Jarred Dillinger (13) who are arguably in the Top 25 among PBA players today (Dillinger being our bet for 25th lol—take him out and we’ll go Top 15 with these guys based on consistency alone). However you defend them, anyone can and will take AND make the shot. De Ocampo was the odd man out in the Elastopainters’ defensive rotation (re: his guy was giving him space and not following him all the way out in order to help his teammates with their assignments), and he made them pay twice by burying top-of-the-key treys.

As for the Elastopainters, they have Paul Lee (11 points) and Jeffrei Chan (10) who are starting to look and play like a very inconsistent superstar pair. Jervy Cruz had an outstanding night finishing with 13 and 9 despite being the “smallest” power forward on the hard court. If the Elastopainters wish to salvage the series, they need to make the necessary adjustments—crash the boards with everyone on deck and perhaps play a more helter-skelter pace. Lee has shown the ability to dissect the Texters’ defense with his crafty drives to the basket but he has to show enough mental toughness (can’t believe we’re saying that in reference to the ace playmaker) to finish against traffic. Ryan Arana had some degree of success so it’s pretty clear that to win, the Elastopainters need to force the issue and attack from the get-go.

Some people are saying that the Alaska Aces, led by Calvin Abueva, looked much better than the Elastopainters—and they did. But only when Abueva was playing. Simply because Abueva’s relentless and unpredictable one-on-three/ four/five forays often put a crease on the Texters’ sound team defense. Individually, aging Alapag and vertically-slow de Ocampo are to be taken advantage of, but as a team, you’ll have a hard time cracking the Texters no matter how much you keep passing the ball around (they don’t really see the need to help and are quite generous and gracious in allowing jumpshots and threes).

This is just a great, cerebral basketball team to watch—the Texters that is. They’re boring as hell because of all the championships they’ve won and the guys on the roster (Ali Peek, Kelly Williams and de Ocampo aren’t exactly TV-friendly in terms of showing emotions on the court) but other than that, there’s just nothing wrong with the way they play the game (except maybe in the Alaska series wherein Ryan Reyes’ elbows played the 6th man role).
 
The Elastopainters need to free-up Chan and ask him to do a Reggie Miller and explore the wonderful world of baseline picks so he can get open. Lee needs to be on attack mode and pound Alapag. Cruz should keep doing his thing. Gabe Norwood and the rest of the Elastopainters need to die for the ball and fight.

That, or this is going to be a very short series.