MANILA, 11 January — Chances are, Talk ‘N’ Text might experiment with yet another foreign coach, an American genius to be precise, in a serious bid to win a championship in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

But could this really be the missing link in the ballclub’s bid to end its title drought?

Since it has been a growing trend in the pro league nowadays, Talk ‘N’ Text management is also considering the possibility of yet again acquiring the services of an American bench taskmaster — the same formula adopted by teams that have gone on to win a merry mix of titles in years.

Among well-known American coaches who have successfully piloted PBA teams to a number of championships are Norman Black, Tim Cone and Ron Jacobs.

So, Talk ‘N’ Text may also take the same route taken by champion teams. And it is now keeping all options to beef up its practically talent-laden lineup with an American bench strategist.

The Phone Pals, whose first and only title since barging to the premier league in 1990 as an expansion team came in the 1998 Centennial Cup under the mentorship of Eric Altamirano, are still in frantic search of a coach with only a few weeks left before the opening of the 28th season.

Talk ‘N’ Text team manager Frankie Lim said team owner Manny Pangilinan is keeping his options open, including the possibility of hiring a foreign coach in a determined bid to win the elusive crown.

The team has already been handled before by an American coach, in Black, in the 90s, but still miserably failed to win a championship. That prompted management to fire Black and replace him with Altamirano who went on to steer the team, when it was still then known as Mobiline, to the 1998 Centennial Cup championship that ended an eight long years of title famine.

Lim and fellow Piltel top official Ricky Vargas have just returned from a week-long trip to the United States to scout for a qualified coach to replace Louie Alas, who was sacked after the Phone Pals failed to reach the semifinals of the Governor’s Cup last year.

Under Alas, who was wooed by Pangilinan from the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) champion team Manila Metrostars in 1999, the squad had ended up empty-handed in their campaign in five conferences.

Overall, they closed out their horrible campaign in last year’s Governor’s Cup with a 7-7 win-loss card, good only for a fifth-place finish in the 10-team tournament.

The Phone Pals lost to San Miguel 63-77 in the quarterfinals to end their season with a horrible five-game losing streak that was the team’s worst ever slide in 17 months under Alas, despite setting out as credible title contenders in each of those conferences owing to the team’s formidable lineup backstopped by towering center Paul Asi Taulava, veterans Jerry Codinera Victor Pablo and Bong Ravena, and ace guard Gherome Ejercito.

"Mr. Pangilinan wants a coach that can make a difference for the team. He’s looking at the possibility of hiring a foreign coach because it seems he could not find available local coach with enough talent to match up with Tim Cone, Ron Jacobs and Norman Black," said Lim. "This could somehow motivate the team. With a foreign coach around, everybody in the team could see that our boss is serious in our bid to win a championship this year."

Lim said among the names they suggested to Pangilinan are Duane Ticknor from Sioux Falls, JT Prada from Portland and Rle Nichols from San Diego — all minor leaguers coaching in the IBA, CBA and ABA.

But Lim did not discount the possibility of Pangilinan opting to sign up a local talent in the end. Chot Reyes, Derreck Pumaren and Alfranchis Chua are the three local coaches left in Pangilinan’s list of candidates.

According to Lim, he even considered talking to former Los Angeles Lakers coach Paul Westhead only to find out the revered mentor is now working in Japan.

Former NBA player Johnny Neumann agreed to be interviewed for the job but said he wouldn’t be able to sign a contract until after the Asian Games in October where he is to coach Lebanon.

Lim also said that if management fails to sign up a new coach in time for the opening of the season, and orders him to take over he won’t refuse it.

"It would be a big challenge for me to call the shot for this talented team," he said.

Earlier, Shell coach Perry Ronquillo was being groomed to be the top candidate for the job.

The brilliant bench taskmaster, however, had opted to renew his contract with Shell leaving Reyes, Pumaren and Chua as the potential replacements.

Reyes’ contract has already expired at the end of last year, and whether he will extend his stay in the team remains to uncertain. Chua, the former Tanduay mentor, is currently consultant and one of Black’s lieutenants at Sta. Lucia Realty, which has just won its first title after beating San Miguel in the finals of Governor’s Cup a few weeks back.

Pumaren has one year left in his three-year contract he inked with Tanduay whose franchise was already sold to Airfreight 2001 Inc.

Airfreight, which will make its initial campaign in the PBA this year, has bought the Tanduay ballclub for 75 million pesos. Airfreight or FedEx bankrolls the Laguna Blades in the MBA.

And more likely, Airfreight 2001 Inc. will retain the services of Pumaren for practical reasons, knowing they have to shell out a fortune if they opt to leave Pumaren out and hire a new coach to handle the team.

Also being considered for the job is long-time Alaska assistant coach Joel Banal, while there are reports that three mentors of champion collegiate teams and a former PBA star have also applied for the job.

Aside from Talk ‘N’ Text, two other teams — Purefoods and Fedex (the newest team in the league after buying the franchise of Tanduay) — are expected to undergo major overhaul for next next season, particularly on manpower aspect.

They are the first teams eliminated in the Governor’s Cup so they are bent on retooling their respective lineups in the hope of coming up with stronger performances next year.

Both teams are basically looking forward to parading healthy and complete lineups since they were the most injury-hit this year.

The biggest player movement so far was the blockbuster trade consummated by Ginebra and Tanduay last month that sent Eric Menk, the Rhum Masters’ acknowledged franchise player, to the Kings.

Pumaren admitted that the Rhum Masters failed to achieve their goal to bag their first title as injuries on key players, particularly Eric Menk and Jeffrey Cariaso, had hounded them no end throughout the season.

Altamirano’s Purefoods crew suffered the same fate that befell Tanduay — the injury bug.

Pumaren and Altamirano were one in saying that their teams could have gone a long way had they campaigned with intact lineups, "but we’re content with our teams’ performance and how they tried their best to overcome those problems.’

They are both planning to dig deeper into the free-agent market to remedy their manpower problem and become competitive since they are expecting other teams to beef up their war machines this year.

So far, the MBA could offer teams in the PBA a long list of tall and talented players.

The PBA rookie draft this year could well be a veritable source of farm-fresh talent for teams hoping to bolster their rosters.

Seigle brothers in one team

Interestingly, the possibility of San Miguel’s ace forward Danny Seigle playing alongside elder brother and fellow Rookie of the Year winner Andy in Purefoods could also be considered.

Danny has said before that he wants to play alongside his brother on any team — and that has intrigued all teams.

But to acquire the Beerman swingman, a team would have to deal with San Miguel, which has expressed its interest to extend the one-year contract the player signed last year. San Miguel, likewise, has the right to match any offers for the prized shooter, being a restricted free agent.

Another thing: As the Beermen’s sister team, Purefoods is barred under PBA rules from directly trading with its fellow SMC franchises, including Ginebra, for Seigle or any of the players on their respective lineups.

Both injured, the Seigles arrived from the US after getting treatment.

Danny had a strained back that limited him to the Beermen’s first four games in the Governor’s Cup.

Pardo virtually dashed any hopes for the Seigle brothers playing for the Hotdogs, saying any team that would agree to a three-way trade with them and the Beermen would also be interested in the latter’s 6-foot-5 streak-shooting forward.

He said they would just match any team’s offer for the services of Andy, who played just two games for the Hotdogs in the Governor’s Cup, where they finished 10th and dead-last after a tiebreak with the Rhum Masters.

Pardo also said management will renew the one-year contract of Altamirano which is expiring at year’s end.

Meanwhile, Alaska, which also had an early exit in the season-ending tournament it won four straight times since 1994, is determined to parade an intact lineup next year. Coach Tim Cone has said he wants his young team intact for the 2002 campaign, and they wonít be an "active trader" in the preseason.

The multititled cone, one of the winningest coaches in the PBA today and architect of the Alaska team that became the most successful ballclub of the 90s after winning numerous titles, said they would only look for a talented small forward in the draft to fill up the weakest link in their roster.