JUST one more game with the kind of mind-set that has carried Talk 'N Text this far and a rich prize
awaits.
"We've done a great job staying present and not getting ahead of ourselves," said Tropang Texters
coach Chot Reyes. "We have to stick to that thinking, that we're only concerned about the next play,
the next possession, the next game."
That match is Friday, when TnT tries to complete a sweep of the Powerade Tigers in what could be the
final PBA Philippine Cup duel at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tne Texters put themselves in the position of becoming the first team in 27 years to defend the
title of the tourney formerly known as the All-Filipino with a 133-126 overtime win in Game 3 last
Wednesday.
The victory was TnT's third in as many games in the best-of-seven series and league history is on
its side.
All 11 teams which erected 3-0 leads never lost the series. Five teams have managed to force a Game
5, Alaska even set up a Game 6 against Gordon's Gin in the 1997 Commissioner's Cup. But they still
fell short.
Also, TnT is now on the verge of becoming only the sixth team to complete a best-of-seven sweep and
just the fourth in the finals. But that niche is something Reyes would only look at when the series'
final buzzer has sounded.
"We have to keep our focus on the next game," he stressed. "Nothing else, just the next game."
After seeing his Powerade team's mightiest stand thus far in the series still come up just short,
coach Bo Perasol himself admitted the task is now tantamount to insurmountable.
That doesn't mean the towel is about to be thrown.
"Their (Texters') firepower is more superior than what we have," admitted Perasol. "Their points are
coming from anywhere. I was telling the guys that if its not Talk 'N Text we were up against, we
would have blown out our opponent already."
What is foremost on the Tigers' collective mind right now is, simply, to avoid that big broom and
take it from there.
Perasol even knows what it will take. "It's just about trying to commit to what we need to do, which
is to make stops," he said.
Last Wednesday's game saw Powerade force overtime by stringing up five points, courtesy of workhorse
Doug Kramer and Jayvee Casio, in the last 10 seconds of regulation. Kramer's undergoal stab and
Casio's triple off an inbounding error by Ranidel de Ocampo pegged a 121-all count.
The Tigers were visibly running on vapors in the extension, however, making only two of 10 shots
while De Ocampo atoned with five of his 21 points through a triple that made it 126-121 and a pair
of charities for a 129-123 lead, only 1:54 left.
Gary David wound up with a gamehigh 36 points, his 12th game of at least 30 points in the
conference, but he went 0-for-5 from the field in OT.
"I told my guys at end of the game, what can I ask more from them?" offered Perasol.
Powerade can take heart from what TnT just recently pulled off.
The Texters were in a similarly dire position after falling behind Petron Blaze, 1-3, in their
race-to-four semifinals. That explains why Reyes keeps reiterating his desire to wait for the series
to be over first.
"What we've got to watch out for on Friday is we're gonna play a team that has nothing to lose," he
pointed out. " It would go out there, play its heart out, play relaxed basketball. That's always
dangerous.
"So we have to go out, hang out and play. We know how Powerade thinks right now and we've got to
take that into heart."
Meanwhile, the Best Player of the Conference will be handed out before the game, with Petron's
Arwind Santos and David leading the contenders that include another Tiger in rookie Marcio Lassiter,
B-MEG's James Yap and another Booster in Alex Cabagnot.
In case the finals ends Friday, the PBA Press Corps will also be handing out the scribes' choice for
Finals Most Valuable Player, which, after three games, remains a toss-up among TnT's prized players,
led by Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag and Larry Fonacier. (NC)
