MANILA, 18 July 2003 — It is all about redemption.

Three gallant players — Asi Taulava, Jimmy Alapag and Bong Ravena — and, oh, yes, of course — a brilliant coach in Joel Banal proved their points.

First they enabled Talk ‘N’ Text to capture the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Filipino Cup title. Then they did the next best thing: heave a collective sigh of relief.

The Phone Pals completed their mercurial rise from the grave with a tight 78-76 win over Coca-Cola before a jampacked crowd at the Pasay Astrodome They wrapped up the best-of-seven series at 4-2 for their first franchise crown dating back to its days as Pepsi in 1990.

The Phone Pals, who lost Games 1 and 2, won Game 6 of their best-of-seven championship series to pull off their mission that was virtually improbable on the way to the dethroning Tigers, who are the defending champions in this season-opening tournament. The fact is, no team in the pro league has had to endure as much adversity before winning a championship as the Phone Pals.

They became just the third team to wipe out a 0-2 series deficit in a best-of-seven affair to win their first title after 14 fruitless seasons. “Coming into the game, I had no doubt we were going to win. We didn’t want to give Coca-Cola a chance to get back at us in a Game Seven,” said Banal. Unlike his forebears - Toyota in and 1982 and Purefoods last year - Banal achieved the comeback without the need of a Game Seven. “This is special. Imagine all the troubles and the 0-2 deficit we had to overcome in the finals.” Actually, Banal scored a sort of a grand slam with the win.

“I told the players, we got it down to six, where we wanted it to be. That meant that if we wanted to win, we just might,” said Banal. “We did not give up hope. When we fell behind by two games, I told the players that the series was not yet over. We still had enough fight in us.”

For the record, the 45-year-old bench taskmaster became only the second coach after Arturo Valenzona to have won the championships in the NCAA, UAAP, PBL and the PBA.

“But unlike the Ateneo victory where the momentum was ours, this is sweeter, if not the sweetest among the rest,” said Banal.

Banal steered the Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1990 and 1991, led Hapee-Ateneo to PBL championships last year and guided Ateneo de Manila University’s capture of its first UAAP title in 14 years last season.

The former Mapua Cardinal also distinguished himself as only the fifth individual to win championships as a player then as a coach in the PBA, following the footsteps of Robert Jaworski, Rino Salazar, Ely Capacio and Norman Black. But there’s something about Banal that made the championship happen for the ballclub owned by businessman Manny V. Pangilinan.

The five straight wins in the eliminations, the quarterfinal win over Barangay Ginebra, the great escape against Alaska in Game 5, the resurrection of the Phone Pals from 0-2 in the finals. And in that team, no player stood taller than Taulava, Alapag and Ravena. Interestingly, the troika also had the most difficult individual challenges to overcome.

The 6-foot-9 Taulava came to the Philippines with a group of Fil-Am basketball players to take part in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Invitational tournament five years ago. With a mammoth crowd cheering like raving Hulkamaniacs right in his first game, Taulava stared in disbelief. “I’m never going to leave,” he whispered to himself then.

Then last year, he came back with complete documentation and was reinstated as a regular player. He even wore the country’s colors in the Busan Asian Games where the Fil-Am-backed Filipinos wound up a mere fourth. This year, Taulava lived up to his lofty billing as “The Rock.” He wanted the crown so badly for himself after hearing people talk about his team lacking the team spirit to win a championship.

Likewise, for Taulava, it meant a temporary relief from the frustrations that highlighted his career. In his first year, the Phone Pals were booted out of the quarterfinals by an eighth-seeded Ginebra squad, on a buzzer-beating jumper at that.

“Those events made me grow as a man and as a player. Now, I can put those behind me and focus on helping my team win more championships,” said Taulava.

He stood at the forefront of the Phone Pals’ campaign, leading them in scoring and rebounding. Taulava, a Fil-Tongan center, made 22 of his 25 points in the last three periods, including 17 in the third when the Phone Pals came clawing mightily back for good from 40-54 down.

“Everybody played great. We fought every minute, every second of this game and we believed in each other,” said Taulava, the tournament’s best player awardee who added an additional feather to his cap by being voted Finals MVP by the PBA Press Corps. “I don’t think I deserve this (Finals MVP). Harvey (Carey) had a great playoffs, the (other) rookies stepped up and the (other) veterans played big.”

Taulava is already training his sights on another championship.

“I’ll try to help my team win more championships. But right now, I will try to savor this win and think about (more championships) after the celebration has died down,” said Taulava. Yet even with his intimidating presence, the Phone Pals probably would not have become champions without the contributions of point guard Alapag.

“I just realized what I had to go through to be in this position,” said Alapag. “I tried so hard to join the PBA last year and I had to go through so many problems including injury and finances. It’s the greatest feeling in my life to be here tonight.”

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Alapag, who faced two tough series and two tough match-ups at the point guard position from the semifinals to the finals. Alapag hit a big triple with 43 seconds to go to give Talk ‘N’ Text a 76-72 spread. Ravena, on the other hand, thought his career was effectively over.

A former Rookie of the Year awardee, “The Raven” was not only benched, he actually had to suffer the ignominy of being relegated to the reserve list of the Phone Pals.

Thanks to Banal who took over the coaching job of the Phone Pals, Ravena’s career was revived. Banal was confident Ravena can work wonders for the Phone Pals so he inserted the acrobatic forward back into his starting unit.

“I knew I still had something to give to the team,” said Ravena. “For two years I was not used. But I did not quit. I just continued to practice hard. I had faith and just kept myself in condition until my chance to play came.” It was Ravena’s fifth title in his career. He previously won two at San Miguel and two at Purefoods - one under Chot Reyes in 1994. The downhill climb in Ravena’s career started shortly after he won his last championship with Purefoods in 1998. Lured by the big bucks offered PBA free agents by the MBA, the former University of the East standout hooked up with the Pasig Pirates where he first worked under Banal.

He moved to Talk ‘N’ Text under Eric Altamirano shortly after the MBA’s disbandment, but he couldn’t quite regain the minutes or the stature he once enjoyed in the league.