A Cut Above

God Mode.
(Photo credits to the owner)

In life, there is always an instance wherein you encounter someone who is just better than you are on a certain field of expertise. It could be in school, at home, in the office or even among friends-- no matter how good you think you are on a certain skill, there is almost, always someone who is better than you.

Even if you put in the same (if not more) of work.

That is the fate of one Rain or Shine Elastopainters, which lost a heated Best-of-Seven series and ultimately the PBA Commissioner's Cup crown, to the Talk'n'Text Tropang Texters.

They play defense first, they run the floor, they share the wealth, they use all of the guys on the roster and just about anyone can hit the three with consistency.

Only, the Texters do (and did) it better (in four of the seven games, at least).

We already know how the PBA Best Player of the Conference awardee Jayson Castro and PBA Finals Most Valuable Player Ranidel de Ocampo took turns, alongside import Ivan Johnson, dismantling the Rain or Shine defense in their wins. But what should be given credit is how the rookie tandem of Kevin Alas and Matt Rosser, from star to role player journeyman Jay Washington, Kelly Williams and Harvey Carey all stood their ground and did whatever was needed to ensure that they bring the proud franchise owned by Manny V. Pangilinan its 7th championship.

Castro, for all the greatness that he put on display leading into the PBA Finals wasn't really much of "The Blur" that we were accustomed to. No, RoS did a pretty decent job of clogging up the driving lanes and making sure that Castro wasn't simply waltzing his way to the basket. So what did Castro do? He broke RoS with long bombs-- which, a few years ago, was the blueprint in basically taking the fight out of Castro and the Texters in general.

Well, not this time.

Castro shot 43% from deep, highlighted by that 44-point performance wherein he blew the roof off the joint by hitting 9 out of 14.

Castro. The man we used to call "Ayson" because he did not have a jumper-- what more a three ball.

Then there is de Ocampo, who basically stamped his class the whole series and when things were not getting done, took over from Games 4 to 7.

For all things RoS Beau Belga, de Ocampo was much more cerebral, had a post up game, could shoot from the outside with consistency and was a lot more better at being discreet with all the punishment and physicality that he would dish out (hi Jon Uyloan, how's the gut?).

And as much as we sounded like we hated Johnson over at Twitter (wherein we trade the "#damingalam analysis hat" for a fan boy's), we actually love the guy the same way we love our Belga and Quinahan. He was physical and intimidating, but never really did anything as dirty like an RdO sneaky, ninja move punch. That elbow on Lee was questionable, but it was still a basketball move and Lee's face just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time (he was coming from Johnson's blind elbow side so kids, the next time you want to angle for an offensive foul, stay in FRONT of the guy and not to the side).

So yeah, those three are the definite Texters stars.

But at the same time, the bench did more than what was asked of them. Sure, we all know about the firepower that they have-- but defensively, the Texters did not give RoS an inch to operate.

They stifled Lee first from attacking the basket, then later on in Game 4 with Carey, by taking out his passing options on the pick and roll. Then, they also  made sure that Belga wouldn't be a factor at any point in this series as well as his buddy JayR Quinahan be it with their long ball, passing from the high post or all the hooliganism that we have come to know and love (as RoS fans).

Sure, the Texters caught a break with Jeffrei Chan playing the Finals on one foot, but so did RoS when the Texters did not have Ryan Reyes out on the floor.

But Alas sure as hell wasn't being bothered by his one-time kuyas from RoS. And Rosser basically had his mind made up from Game 1 that he was going to be the team's (unnecessary) enforcer at the wings (with an unwarranted, dirty stiff forearm/ elbow to Paul Lee in Game 5 even). So yeah, the "Other Guys" were more than ready both physically and mentally to combat RoS mano-y-mano.

Game 7 was telling in so many ways that we have no qualms about being proven wrong in our prediction. The Texters and RoS made identical plays, shot the lights out from three point territory and basically matched each other play-for-play. The game needed two overtime periods to decide who the winners will be, and RdO stood tallest, unmatched, clearly better than any of his local RoS counterparts to seal the deal (Castro and Lee pretty much cancelled each other out on offense, while never really being pitted against one another on defense).

Moving forward, we don't really see the Texters keeping this new "swag" of theirs (and we are a bit wary of an RoS payback as early as next conference once Johnson is out of the picture). If anything, this series showed that the Texters are as good as advertised, and could win through any form of adversity and style.

And you know what's scary?

The Jayson Castro Era has just officially begun.