PBAPC QF2: 3 Rain or Shine vs 6 Talk n Text

Baptism of Fire for Troy and Mo
(Photo credit to PBA.Inquirer.net)

Here we go again.

The Rain or Shine Elastopainters, perennial contenders ever since Yeng Guiao took over the coaching reins, are headed for a collision course with forever tormentors Talk’n’Text Tropang Texters in the 2nd phase of the PBA Philippine Cup Quarterfinals . We say that, because even before these two teams met in last season’s seven-game PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals thriller (which the Texters won at the expense , they have already been running right smack at one another with  the Elastopainters always on the losing end.

We are RoS fans, so we know the history. For as long as Guiao has made RoS “perennial contenders,” the door is almost always closed on them if TnT happens to be in their way—be it in the Finals, Semis or Quarters. In LOTR parlance, think of Tnt as Gandalf saying “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

Over and over and over and over again.

So what is different this time around?

Well, if you are an RoS fan, you are hoping that the retooled TnT core is not as fluid as their previous incarnations. They lost Ranidel de Ocampo to injury, and Coach Jong Uichico has been relying a lot on  youngsters Matt Rosser, Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario to pull them out of sticky situations as of late (credit to those kids though, as they keep on delivering). Jayson Castro and Larry Fonacier are still there, and they are the recognized RoS killers along with RdO, but it seems that RoS has the tools to match-up with their guards—Ryan Reyes and Denok Miranda included.

Thanks to the “one day you’ll sit, next day you’ll start” approach of Guiao, RoS boasts of a deep guard rotation with starter Chris Tiu enjoying his best season yet despite playing about 20 minutes a game, Jericho Cruz, Jeffrei Chan and Maverick Ahanmisi. This team has suddenly looked so deep, that we don’t even really feel the need to discuss Paul Lee and if he should play in this crucial knockout game since he might just screw up the on and off court chemistry.

At the forward position, Gabe Norwood would probably cancel out Rosser but then you have hungry rookies like Don Trollano and Josan Nimes waiting their turn plus team captain Jireh Ibanes.  This should be an interesting match-up, though we don’t really expect anyone from this group to light up the scoreboard. If anything, they (Norwood and Rosser) will probably fill up the stat sheet.

Now let’s talk frontline.

In their first match, Tautuaa and Rosario dominated the RoS side of JayR Quinahan, Beau Belga, Jewel Ponferada and Raymond Almazan.

What caught our attention in that game was how timid the RoS’ Extra Rice Inc. duo looked, to the point that they didn’t even bother to clobber the TnT rookie pair with hard fouls, elbows and other cheap ploys. It was a clean game all throughout—which isn’t really up to Belga and Quinahan’s reputation. Well, we doubt that those guys will have the same approach in the knockout game. If anything, Tautuaa and Rosario need to get ready to get physical now that a semifinals berth is on the line.

Then again, if the kids can't get the job done, there's always former PBA MVP Kelly Williams and hard-nosed do-it-all forward Harvey Carey to pitch in.

Oh, and Larry Legend Rodriguez too.

We feel that this game is going to be a close one, with the telling plays coming by way of who can execute better. That being said, when shit hits the fan RoS does not really run a standard set that will give you a high percentage of winning (read: madalas nauuwi sa chamba one on one play) while you can always count on TnT (The Blur specially) to deliver.

Prediction: Texters