Tactical error

Can't win 'em all

Now that the smoke has cleared and the dust has settled somewhat, the losing part of last night’s epic PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Game 7—the  Talk ‘n’ Text Tropang Texters should keep their heads unbowed for putting up an awesome display of heart and fight.

They were ahead by nine points midway in the fourth quarter in a grind-it-out game they had no business in winning since it wasn’t their style. The overtime forcing free throws off a foul by Kelly Williams on B-Meg super import Denzel Bowles shouldn’t be taken against the former PBA Most Valuable Player.

Tabla! Texters fight back

Catch him if you can!

Talk about having the heart of champions-- the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters survived a scintillating, throwback James Yap performance behind the exploits of their own MVP-caliber player Jayson "The Blur" Castro.

Of course, there's also the dominant performance by blue collar Texters import Donnel Harvey who more than held his own against the Llamados' young giant Denzel Bowles who made a couple of crucial errors in the closing seconds-- passing the ball to the wrong guy, missing a free throw and deciding to make the 2nd one when they were down 3 and so on. Just the kind of mistakes you'd expect a 22-year-old to make on the biggest stage of them all.

Back to Castro, and how the "Man with a Million Injuries" kept the Texters in the fight in the 4th quarter when the Llamados were up by four-five points. Man-for-man, the Llamados have a good 6-7 man rotation with two legit scorers in Yap and buddy PJ Simon while the Texters have Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo and at times, Jimmy Alapag within a solid 10 man rotation.

BMeg solves TNT Matrix in Game 1

PJ Simon shines
over Yap for BMeg

If this game is any indication of what we're going to be watching, nay, witnessing for the next two weeks then they should just move the games from the SMART Araneta Coliseum that fits 17,000 plus max to the Quirino Grandstand where hundreds could enjoy it live.

The BMeg Llamados took control of the game early, surprisingly deciding to run with the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters before finally slowing the game down and playing it per possession. Coach Tim Cone entrusted the scoring to under-rated scorer PJ Simon, who pretty much had a field day on the floor by using his speed against Ryan Reyes and height over Jayson Castro. Simon was doing it all on the floor, even playing big point guard no thanks to a rather subpar performance from 2x MVP teammate James Yap.

Texters as Kainan? Nah, think Shoyo

The Talk 'n' Text SHOYO Texters

Since this writer has been a long time Slam Dunk fan back when it was still being aired (although inconsistently, some weeks it's there, others it isn't) on ABC 5 (the precursor to today's MVP-owned TV5), it's quite entertaining to see that it's being used in parallelisms with the PBA.

For that, we'd have to thank idol FireQuinito Jaemark Tordecilla, who was the first to really push for Purefoods/ BMeg's Marc Pingris to be identified as the "Pinoy Sakuragi." From the day that I first read his post about Pingris being the local version of the volatile yet extremely gifted red-haired anime, it definitely stuck and I'm just happy that we now have a moniker that best suits Pingris instead of having Mico Halili give him a childish sounding one ala Smurfinator or Ranidelsky De Ocamposchnitsky whatever.

Energy punks out Texters

Energy will win if they continue
to keep Pena fresh for the 4th

If the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters fail to advance to the Finals in the PBA Commissioner's Cup, then not only would it come as a shock to the local basketball front, but they'll have only themselves to blame.

In Game 2, we all thought that the tables have finally turned and that the Texters were ready to follow up with a rousing performance in Game 3. Not only did the survive the veteran-laden Barako Bull Energy's physicality, but they ran them roughshod to the ground. But something changed, this writer touched on it in the last two entries (be happy if you could check it out) and it worked to perfection.

The Energy made three key adjustments that pretty much sealed the deal.

Golden Opportunity for Barako Bull

Kelangan gumawa si Miller para magtrabaho
sa depensa si Castro, Alapag at Reyes

It’s not everyday that a rag tag team of discards and almost forgotten veterans are able to prove themselves against the league’s elite. That pretty much sums up the main storyline for the starpower heavy Best-of-Five semifinals match-up between the Talk ‘n’ Text Tropang Texters and Barako Bull Energy.

On one end you have the defending champions, the mighty Texters who are looking to duplicate last season’s title romp behind an even healthier and more potent roster. Powered by rejuvenated, reigning Most Valuable Player Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams, KKS Doctor Ranidel de Ocampo, Larry Fonacier and Jarred Dillinger plus rebound-demon of an import Donnel Harvey, all signs point to another long playoff run by the Texters.

SMART Gilas Tropang Texters and friends

SMART Gilas na ako! SMART Gilas na ako!

The writing has been on the wall ever since the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and Team MVP opted to have Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters' head coach Chot Reyes to man the SMART Gilas 2 basketball program.

Reyes' initial SG2 wishlist features the core of his Texters, with veterans Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and KKS Doctor Ranidel de Ocampo leading the pack followed by FIBA first timers Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes (wasn't able to play in 2009) and Larry Fonacier. They will be supported by Alaska's Sonny Thoss, Powerade's KKS Bataan Bomber Gary David, Marcio Lassiter and JVee Casio plus old reliable, naturalized center Marcus Douthit. Asi Taulava is also reportedly on the wishlist, but he'll probably be 100 years old by the next FIBA Asia tournament (bless his soul).

The Adventures of Super Bitoy continues

Super Bitoy: Proof that hard work pays off

Four games into the Commissioner's Cup and Air21's small forward Nelbert "Bitoy" Omolon is starting to turn heads with a couple of solid performances. Granted, his numbers took a hit in losses versus Petron and Bmeg after a sterling debut against Barako Bull, but Omolon quickly turned things around by leading the Express to a surprising 89-78 victory over the lethargic defending champions, Talk 'n' Text.

Being a long time Santa Lucia fan, seeing Omolon follow in the successful steps of ex-Realtors Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes of Talk 'n' Text and Joseph Yeo and Denok Miranda (who has established himself as the Wyne Arboleda of this generation) of Petron is a joy to hear. Not only is one of the more solid contributors of Santa Lucia's last title squad playing big minutes, but he is now enjoying time in the limelight after years of hard work and adjusting his game to fit the PBA style of play.

The PBA Pinoy Cup Finals: Talk N Text vs Powerade

After an exciting semifinals series that could've gone either way if a basket or two were only made, we're now being treated to a rather unexpected yet enthralling Finals match-up with league powerhouse and defending champions Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters and the "Cinderella" team, the 8th seeded Powerade Tigers.

To win, Tigers' need Lassiter to stay on the floor

Keys for the Tigers

1. Run and gun
- It's pretty obvious that the Tigers lack the legit point guard who makes scoring opportunities for his teammates. They have PGs who can handle the rock and rotate the basketball, but mostly, these guys are natural born shooters (Rudy Lingganay being the odd man out). JVee Casio and Celino Cruz need to run and keep pushing the pace to spread the floor and not let the Texters vaunted defense (which was modified halfway in the Petron series but wasn't recognized outright by most) set-up shop.

Never underestimate the heart of a champion

Admittedly or not, the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters entered their semifinals series versus the Petron Blaze Boosters still seething from their foiled Grand Slam bid just a conference back. It showed in the way they fought tooth and nail despite the injuries, and none more than today's Game 7 which they won via the slimmest of margins, 92-91.

Pinoy Cup champs regrouped just in the nick of time

KKS' hats off to the Boosters, who had this series in the bag early with a 3-1 lead but failed to close it out in three tries. Alex Cabagnot evolved into the lead point guard in the PBA today, Arwind Santos proved to everyone why he's the guy whose name is almost a shoo-in for Best Player of the Conference and even season Most Valuable Player and finally, Danny Ildefonso turned back the hands of time to show us that the Demolition Man is still hungry for more rings (and may possibly go down as one of the PBA's winningest players when it's all said and done).

But Game 7 was all about the Texters regardless of how tight the score was in the end. Yes, the Boosters caught up and had a chance to win in the end, but it was the adjustments on the Xs and Os by coach Chot Reyes which spelled the biggest difference of them all.

Cabagnot was forced to pass the ball early instead of setting the table up for the Boosters. Santos was effectively cancelled out by rival Kelly Williams et. al. And it was only Chris Lutz and Ildefonso who were able to carry the fight for the Boosters alongside Joseph Yeo.

On the other side of the floor, guys who played in only a couple of games all conference long for the Texters made sure to bring it all out when it mattered most. Jayson Castro, the man known as "The Blur" but has been more like "The Crash" due to his numerous injuries, scattered 21 points. Jimmy Alapag, lost in the ascension of younger point guards like Cabagnot and teammates Castro and Ryan Reyes, had another classic, nay, vintage performance with 14 points and 7 assists.

Ali Peek, a guy who wouldn't even be part of the series if not for his thick muscular build that saved him from a couple of bullets, hauled in a hard-earned/ fought double double of 13 points and 11 rebounds over Ildefonso and understudy Rob Reyes.

Pang-MVP man si Santos, lamang sa poste si RDO

And then, there was the answer.

The last, true Filipino big man in this day and age of 3 points and crossover loving bigs.

He started the series (and the conference) as he usually does- inconsistently. One day he looks like the bigger version of Jun Limpot (only he wins more). The next he looks like Marlou Aquino during the darker Santa Lucia years (pre-Kelly).

Then, Game 4 happened.

Ryan Reyes was reported hurt. The next game, Kelly Williams hurt his hamstring. Ditto with the forever limping Castro.

It was time.

And Ranidel de Ocampo was ready to take over.

KKS said it before and we'll say it again, there's no one in the PBA today that has the same clinical and polished skillset as RDO. Hell, KKS wants this guy to be called "Dr. De Ocampo" just to recognize his insane on court abilities.

But that's just it. Like any doctor, you don't always get what you pay for. Sometimes they just diagnose you, scribble (more like doodle) on a piece of paper and send you off. Others, they take the time to REALLY check up on you, tell you what's wrong and other possibilities.

Ditto with RDO. Sometimes he coasts, others he dominates.

And once the opening was presented to him, to not be the kick-out big man but number one option- he delivered and the Boosters just didn't have anyone on the roster to stay with him.

Ildefonso's solid, but he's a banger-defender in the block. RDO enjoys some nice footwork and range that forces Ildefonso way out of his comfort zone. Rob Reyes? Rookie. Mark Agustin? Yeah, whatever. Baclao? He's so far off his Ateneo game shape KKS would take Agustin over him all day at this point.

So here's to the Texters' injuries and all for surviving this series and making it to the Finals where they can defend their Philippine Cup title. The series could've gone either way honestly, with all the close games, but in the end, there's a big difference between guys who play not to lose and those who play to win.